Don't Try This At Home
by HeartQueenVivaldi
Summary: Genderswap! Tohru is a high school boy living in the woods, in a tent..but don't focus on that! When he stumbles upon one of his classmates, the beautiful Princess Yuki, and her perverted cousin Shigure, and is invited to stay in their home, he finds out that there is more than meets the eye with them. Add hot-headed Kyoko into the mix and fur is sure to fly! Literally! (on hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

_Hatsuharu Sohma: [after tripping Kyo] If I hadn't had tripped you, you wouldn't have stopped now would you.[Addressing the audience] By the way what I just did was very dangerous. And if it had been anyone but Kyo they probably would have been hurt pretty badly, so don't try it at home._

 _Kyo Sohma: Don't try it here and who are you even talking to?_

 **Don't Try This at Home**

 **Chapter 1**

They're Animals!

It was a beautiful day as the young boy emerged from his tent in the woods. "Look at that beautiful sky!" he exclaimed to himself, so happy to see such an amazing morning. He turned his big, blue eyes to the heavens with a smile on his face, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes. It was definitely time for a haircut.

He poked his head back inside of his little, yellow tent, and he said goodbye to his mother, a picture in a simple wooden frame. She was smiling a big, cheesy smile. "See ya later, Mom. Take care of the house while I'm gone, Okay? I'll be back!" and with that he set out through the woods to start off the day.

 _Hello, my name is Tohru Honda. I haven't always lived in a tent. Up until last May I lived with my mom. It was just the two of us, but then the accident… After I lost mom I began secretly living here on my own. It's not exactly comfortable, but it's alright, and it's what I have to do. Like my motto says: Never give up!_

As the boy walked along the path out of the woods he watched the nature around him. It was a peaceful morning in the forest, the tree rustling quietly in the breeze, and the grass swaying along with them. If Tohru was quiet enough, he could walk beneath twittering birds without disturbing them. As he walked down his normal path the boy noticed something he hadn't seen before: a cute little house. He went down the small hill to explore a little, his curiosity getting the better of him.

When he reached the bottom of the hill and came out of the bushes he spoke as if his mother was with him. "Look at this, Mom. Did you know there was a house here? It seems so peaceful." he pointed this out to himself as he peeked in through the open, sliding doors, becoming more curious the longer he stayed. "It must be nice."

As he was about to walk away something else caught the boy's attention. They were little rocks painted like the different zodiac animals. "How cute! The twelve animals of the Zodiac!" _There's the rat...the cow...the tiger...the rabbit...the dragon...the snake...the horse...the goat...the monkey...the rooster...the dog...the boar..._

"My word! Do my eyes deceive me, or is there a strange, young boy standing on my porch?" His head snapped up. Standing in front of him was a dark haired man, with dark brown eyes in a tan-colored kimono. Suddenly the boy realized that this was kind-of an awkward situation, and that it was probably a little odd of him to be standing in front of a strange person's house.

He started to freak out a little, waving his hands in front of his face haphazardly, trying to apologize for his intrusion. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I was just looking, I didn't mean to barge in without permission!" He was red in the face at this point.

"It's alright." the strange man said, chuckling slightly. "I just set them out to dry, no harm done, but I find it hard to believe that these silly little things could attract your interest." The boy started to calm down, This man seemed really nice.

"No, I really like them. I don't think they're silly at all."

"Yes, well. I must admit, I'm particularly fond of them myself."

Tohru looked a little closer and noticed something about them. "Oh, but I should have known." His voice dropped in disappointment, "You left out the cat."

"The cat?" The man looked up at the boy curiously. He snapped out of it, though. "Ah, I take it you're referring to the old folktale of the Chinese Zodiac?"

"Uh-huh! My mom told it to me when I was little." The boy stood there for a moment as a an old memory surfaced in his head.

 _His mother spoke in a soft voice, telling the story of the Zodiac. "A long, long time ago, God decided to invite all of the animals to a banquet. He sent out word for all of them to come to his house the following evening, and 'don't be late.' he said. When the mischievous rat heard the news he decided to play a trick on his neighbor, the cat. He told the cat that the party was the day after tomorrow. The very next day all of the animals lined up for the celebration, and the rat led the way riding all the way there on the back of the cow. Everyone had a wonderful time, except for the foolish cat who missed the whole thing." As his mother finished the story she looked down to see her young son with tears in his eyes. "Hey, why are you crying?" She asked him tenderly as he continued to cry, tears streaming down his face._

 _"_ _Because that poor cat, he must be so lonely." He stood up with determination on his face, and tears still falling down his little face. "I know, I won't be a dog anymore, I'll be a cat, too."_

"Funny, I wonder what she'll say when she hears she has a fan." The man spoke, startling the boy out of his trance.

"She?" The boy asked, curious as to what that could possibly mean.

"You were born in the year of the dog. I knew there was something I liked about you. I mean, aside from your handsome face, which would go well wi…" He was cut short by a heavy, blue bookbag falling right on top of his head, making his hair messier than it already was.

They boy looked up into the prettiest face he had ever seen. She had beautiful, purple-blue eyes, and the most amazing, shoulder-length blue-grey hair. "Please forgive my cousin, Honda-san. He's a bit of a flirt, but he's harmless. In general it's usually best to ignore him." Tohru recognized the girl right away, because she was the prettiest girl in his entire school.

 _Yuki Sohma! Oh, mom, I don't believe it. The princess of my high school, Yuki Sohma, is standing right here before my very eyes, and I'm standing in front of his house._

The boy was taken aback and speechless, and he felt even more out of place than he had before. Yuki's cousin was kneeling on the porch, rubbing his sore head after being hit by the bag. He turned to ask his younger cousin a question as Tohru stood there, speechless. "What do you have in that bag? A dictionary?"

Yuki answered in her sweet, soft voice. "No, I have two of them."

The man leaned back against the post he was sitting next to and got back to business. "So, you're one of Yuki's classmates from school. Let's start again. I'm Shigure, her older, and much less violent cousin." He told her as he raised a hand as if to point himself out.

"Hi, it's very nice to meet you." Tohru said politely.

"And what brings you to our home this morning, Honda-san?" Yuki piped up from the open doorway.

Tohru wasn't quite sure how to answer. "Haha, well you know, I live… nearby…" he finished his sentence a little unsurely. He was suddenly aware of the fact that he lived in a tent, and probably on the Sohma property.

"You do? Where at?" The girl asked curiously.

"Uh… Right!" He only answered the girl's first question.

The two cousins looked confused at Tohru's sudden nervousness.

"Okay, I think I'll just be going now. It was nice to meet you." He bowed courteously and turned to leave, but didn't make it very far before he was stopped by Yuki.

"Wait, Honda-san! Since you're here why don't we walk together?" She looked so cute standing there he couldn't refuse.

Before he knew it, they were walking down the street together, and on the way they ran into the Yuki fan-club boys, and just like Yuki fanboys were prone to do, they just had to dance, marching and spelling out exactly what they were singing with their bodies. It was all very weird not matter how you looked at it. "L O V E, we love Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! La la la la la la la la love, la la la la la la la la love!" They stood on the corner of the street looking so proud of the little chant they had made up, but Tohru and Yuki just kept walking, and totally ignored them. "YUKI!" They screamed in indignation.

When they reached the school the fan-club had something to say about it. The stood in front of the sole boy, and cornered him in the hallway. "Okay, start talking!

The blonde leader spoke up first, and his two henchmen followed suit, their hair standing on end as they spoke out of anger. "What was that all about, Tohru?"

"Why were you walking to school with Princess Yuki? Details, and they better be good!" The redhead was next.

"It… It was just a coincidence." Tohru defended himself from the boys.

"For your sake I hope That's all it was. Huh!" The dark haired boy shouted to him all uppity, and snooty like.

The leader spoke again " Every boy in Kawaia High class 1-D knows Yuki Sohma's the best looking girl in school." He slowly got bigger and stood straighter as stars gleamed in his eyes.

"And she's intelligent." The redhead now had stars in his eyes as well.

"And great at sports." The dark haired boy finished before they all got evil looks on their faces.

"And for your info we are the Princess Yuki fanclub. We've got first dibs, brother, so you better stay clear!" The leader looked like pure evil as he continued, an ominous, purple aura surrounding him.

"Hey!" A deep voice came from behind the other boys. It was a very tall boy with long, blonde hair that he always wore over one eye. It was the yankee of Tohru's grade, Uotani, who also happened to the brunette's friend. The black uniform the school gave to the boys never suited him, because it was too formal, so instead he added his own delinquent flair and left all the buttons undone and he left the white school tie out of it completely. He looked more dangerous that way, he'd say when someone mentioned it.

"WHAT?!" The boys turned around, and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who it was.

"He said it was a coincidence, now get lost before those big noses of yours get bruised." The boy defended Tohru, and the fanboys were scared out of their minds just looking at the expression on the other boy's face.

"Now, hold it, Yankee! You're not going to scare us with that street-thug talk." Just as their leader finished speaking a dark-haired boy with black hair, and mysterious eyes emerged from behind the tall blonde. This boy was Hanajima, who _also_ happened to be Tohru's friend.

He spoke with a soft, mysterious voice. "One more word and you'll all get…" (we leave out the next word for its vulgarity) "... with electric shocks." And with that the fanboys took off sprinting down the hallway out of fear.

Tohru approached the two boys. "Thanks. I didn't think they'd ever leave."

"Were those catty little boys bothering you? Aww…. Hana, don't actually shock anyone, okay?" The blonde boy took Tohru into a big, protective hug. The boy called Hana had little electrical bolts coming out of his head.

When they got to cooking class Tohru couldn't help but tell his two odd friends about his morning. It had already been a long and eventful morning. "You know, the truth is, I was so nervous walking with Yuki this morning. I couldn't talk to him, no, I couldn't even look at him."

Hana was gutting a fish when he said "I sense strange electric signals coming from that girl." They were making some sort of stew, and letting Hana have the knife was a good choice, but it was scary just how efficient he was with the sharp object.

"Here we go again, Hana's electric report." The blonde boy seemed almost irritated.

"Strange how?" Tohru seemed genuinely curious.

"I don't know. She's different." Hana said while cleaning the knife he had been using, and put it back in its protective cover.

The blonde boy moved his hair away from his eyes for just a moment. "Well, I admit, she does seem to have an air of mystery about her, and there are some weird stories floating around too. I hear one of those fanclub boys tried to ask her out once, but she just pushed him away, and I mean that literally. Right in the hall. Then she left him on the floor and ran off." As he explained his story Tohru imagined the whole situation in his head.

"Like I said, I sense strange electric signals." Hana finished the meal and they started dishing up bowls of rice, and portions of everything else they had made.

"Um. Let's talk about something else?" Tohru decided to change the subject.

"How's that job of yours going?" The blond turned to him.

"Oh, fine, I guess, Why?" Tohru addressed the blonde.

"I don't know. You've been putting in a lot of hours lately. A lot more that usual." He seemed concerned about Tohru and the amount of hours that he spent at his part time job.

"Yeah, sure." Tohru seemed nervous about this subject.

"You're having trouble saving up for tuition, aren't you?" The blonde suddenly deduced this out of nowhere.

"No, it's just, well, yeah…" Tohru admitted it.

"That's odd. I didn't think tuition here was that expensive, and I don't remember you having to work this hard before, unless...something else has changed." Hana spoke up, holding his rice bowl up to nose level.

"No, everything's the sa…" He was cut off by Uo.

"So what is it? You in some kind of trouble? You owe somebody? Your grandfather's giving you enough to eat, right? He isn't taking your money?" He looked as if he were ready for action in case someone needed to be taught a lesson.

"nuh uh." Tohru smiled and denied all accusations.

"I know, I worry too much, but seriously, if you need me to rough someone up for you, you just say the word, got it?" He would protect Tohru through anything.

"Okay!" He agreed. _Uo is gonna kill me when he finds out, but how can I tell my two best friends that I live in a tent. I can still remember how tough it was on Mom after Dad died. She had to work so hard just to make ends meet, but she never seemed to mind. She always had a smile._ Tohru thought about his mom as he thought, memories running through his head about her smiling about her first paycheck, and then the crash. _It's hard to believe that someone so smart and so strong could be taken away by an accident. After it happened there were a lot of people I could have stayed with, I guess. I chose to live with my paternal grandfather. He was always so nice to me, but he's retired now, and living on his savings. I didn't want to be a burden, so I promised him I would work to pay for my tuition myself. After four months the house needed some renovations and grandfather went to stay with his daughter and her family until the work was done. He asked me if I had a friend here I could stay with. I told him yes, but Uo lives in a one-room apartment, and Hana's got such a large family. I couldn't ask them. They've got enough to worry about. I would just be in the way. That's when it hit me. If I could somehow live on my own for a while then everyone would be happy._

As classes ended for the day, Tohru went back to his locker to grab his things, and he ran into Yuki. "Oh, Yuki, it's you! I mean it's… hi…"

"It seems we're beginning to make a habit of bumping into each other." She giggled slightly as she spoke.

They started to walk home together and they got to talking, unlike the morning when it was so quiet. "It was nice meeting your cousin this morning. He was funny, and those little Zodiac figurines he made were really cute." Tohru tried to make small talk with this.

Yuki took the bait. "Ah, yes, but I thought I overheard you saying something about how you wish there was a year of the cat."

"It's an idea I had when I was a kid. Silly…"

Yuki seemed to talk more to herself in this moment than any other. "Cats. Useless, foolish creatures." This took Tohru by surprise. He didn't expect to hear something so harsh out of this beautiful girl's mouth. "Tell me, Honda-san. How familiar would you say you are with the history of the Chinese Zodiac?"

"I know the stories my mom used to tell me."

"Did you know that it was originally nothing more than a simple calendar? A mathematical system to mark the passage of time. Only later did people begin to use it for things like astrology and fortune-telling."

"Oh…" Tohru didn't expect this from her, and she was acting a little strange. "I guess the story about the animals isn't true then."

"No, I'm not really sure how or when the animals first came to represent the years, but I don't believe they were there from the beginning. What I do know is that in no time of the history of the Zodiac has the cat ever been included. So you see, the cat has been shunned by society for thousands of years, but as the story is told it still yearns to be accepted, like I say, a truly foolish animal."

"Sounds like you really don't like cats." Yuki turned to face the boy with a smile on her face.

She plucked a leaf from the wind and spoke pointedly at the boy in front of her. "I noticed it this morning, that you're starting to look a bit pale. You should really take better care of yourself. Perhaps we'll bump into each other again tomorrow." With that she turned and walked away, leaving the young Tohru speechless.

 _Wow. she really is mysterious, but I'll pretend I didn't hear that pale remark. I can't afford to let anything bring me down. I've got too much to do. Besides, Mom probably had it much, much worse._

He went to work after school, cleaning a medical building after hours with a bunch of other people. The boy changed into his blue uniform, and wrapping a handkerchief around his head before he arrived, the sun just beginning to set behind him. He cleaned all evening, taking out trash and mopping floors for the next day's business hours and hardly stopping for a break. On one of those rare break he allowed himself to have, Tohru was standing in the corner thinking, when a man came out of a room and stumbled over the garbage he left in front of the door. "What… Hey, you gonna let this trash sit here all night?" He was pulled from his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry!" _Like my motto says: Never give up, no matter what life throws your way!_ He got right to work, and worked harder than ever before, running around the place, mopping, taking garbage out, and wiping things down. Before long he was headed home, or at least to the closest thing to it, home was still a tent after all, for the time being, not expecting the meeting that was about to happen.

Yuki and Shigure had just finished a meal that they had eaten at a restaurant and were headed home on the path. Shigure decided to make things interesting. "If we keep eating out like this all the time I'm going to have to buy a bigger robe."

"Well, then why don't you do the cooking?" Yuki retorted sarcastically.

"Why? Every time I make dinner you complain." The man shot back.

"Pickled radish and curry is not dinner. It's disgusting. I think one complaint is more or less justified."

"You know, Yuki, you've got a good head on your shoulders, but I just don't think you're cut out for housework. Let's get a housekeeper!"

"No." That ended that discussion effectively. As they walked they noticed something odd. Yuki noticed it first. "Hold up. Honda-san?"

Tohru was entering the tent, and he was exhausted. "Hi, Mom. I'm home. I know, it's late, but I can't sleep yet. I still have a paper to write. I'm just going to go down to the stream and wash up a little, okay?" He held up a small rag, and turned to leave the tent. As he emerged from the tent standing in front of him were Yuki and Shigure. He looked up to see their two surprised faces looking down at him. And the brunette probably looked the same to them. Suddenly Shigure started laughing hysterically.

"Shigure, don't you think you're overdoing it?" Yuki chastised her older cousin. Tohru looked like he might faint from embarrassment.

Yuki and Shigure escorted the boy to their home, and Shigure was still laughing. When they reached the house they all sat around the table in the living room. Yuki started interrogating the boy with concern. "So, you've been living in that tent by yourself?"

Tohru answered sheepishly "Uh-huh."

Yuki was concerned. "For how long?"

"I don't know, just over a week."

"Well, that explains it. All of this land is Sohma property. It seemed odd that we'd suddenly have a new neighbor." Yuki spoke over her cousin's hysterical laughing spell.

Tohru was embarrassed, and he was starting to tremble. "I'm sorry, but please, can't I stay there a little while longer? It's only for a few more weeks, then I'll go. I don't have much money, but I _can_ pay you. Please let me stay?" He was flushed, and starting to look more sick.

Shigure snapped out of his laughing spell, and injected himself into the conversation. "Those woods aren't too safe. You've got wild animals, landslides, the occasional weirdo prowling around. It's not a good idea for anyone to be living out there alone."

"So, you're done laughing?" Yuki interjected.

"Don't you worry about me, I'm already used to all of the bugs, and if I can stand up to them I can stand up to…up to..." He stood up to prove his willingness, and ability, but he collapsed.

"Tohru!" Shigure was worried, and Yuki went to him to feel his forehead.

"A fever…"

"Ice! I'll get ice! It's… uh.." Shigure went to go get ice, but when he turned to open the door to the kitchen he was stopped short when he saw the mess in there. There were garbage bags piled to the ceiling, the sink was overflowing with dirty dishes that had been in there for weeks and in fact, he didn't even know if the fridge worked any more, that's how long he hadn't been in the kitchen. He wouldn't be able to get to the ice even if he wanted too, and he wanted too.

"Huh, and you call the woods unsafe?" Tohru inquired when he saw the mess in front of Shigure. He was astounded at the clutter.

"Well, relatively speaking." He turned to the younger boy and held up a finger as he spoke in order to emphasize his point. Just as he finished speaking they heard a wolf howl in the distance. Shigure looked off in the distance his eyes slightly glazed over. "There, you hear that? There's just been another landslide somewhere."

Tohru was surprised that the man knew what the wolf was howling about. "Really? But how do you know that?"

"I guess you could say its instinct." He answered nonchalantly.

"Was it close?" Yuki looked to Shigure for an answer as she held a first-aid kit and was about to attend to Tohru.

"Hm, close to the ten… ehh… I mean, not at all!" He finished his sentence in a sing-song voice, holding up his hands defensively.

They all left the house to check it out and see where the slide was, and what the damage was, walking through the dark forest, carefully stepping over fallen logs. When they got to where the landslide had happened, they found the tent buried by mud, trees, rocks, and dirt. The only part of the tent they could see was the very corner of it, sticking out like a bright yellow marker.

Tohru started panicking. "Oh, this is terrible! Mom's picture was still in there! I have to get her out! Mom, Mom! I'm coming!" He started digging, trying to get the picture out of the mess of tent and mud, collapsing of exhaustion after just a few moments of digging.

"Please, calm down, you already have a fever." Yuki came up behind him and tried to console him.

"But Mom… What am I going to do? If I don't get her out soon she'll be… she'll be hurt."

He was panicking. All he wanted was the picture. He just needed the picture of his mother.

"Don't strain yourself. We'll come back when it's brighter. I think your mom's probably glad it wasn't you in there, and I think she'd be upset if you got hurt now, don't you?" Shigure spoke soothingly to the young boy.

They went back to the house, both Yuki and Shigure each carrying half of Tohru because the boy could barely stand on his own two feet and Shigure found a bed for Tohru to sleep in for the night. "There. Isn't that better? And Yuki's still looking for some ice, if you want it."

"I'm sorry." Tohru said unexpectedly.

"Huh, you must be tired. That's a lot to happen in one day."

"Mm hmm." He had his eyes closed, and was half asleep. "I… I lost my home again."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. It's sad, but not as sad as other things."

"Like what?"

"Like not telling Mom 'be safe' on the day she died. I said that every morning, 'bye, be safe.' Except that day, I didn't say it. I had a test, so I stayed up studying almost the whole night. When it was time for Mom to go to work I didn't wake up. I couldn't tell her, 'be safe', and she never came home. I used to think about quitting school, working. Mom told me she didn't finish school, but she always wished that she did." _That's why I need you to stick with it, so you can tell me what it feels like to hold that diploma in your hand, and then maybe you can have the life I never got to have._ He opened his eyes slightly, and closed them again. "When she said that, that's when I knew why she worked so hard. It was all for me, and with everything she did, I couldn't even get up long enough to say goodbye when she was walking out the door, not even that one little thing, and then she was gone. So now I have to finish high school like Mom wanted me to, no matter what. I have to hold that diploma in my hand. I have to. For her. I can't give up just because of a fever like this." Once he was finished he fell asleep.

Yuki spoke softly after a moment of silence. "It's amazing." Shigure looked up at her. "He always seems so cheerful at school. You'd never guess he's been suffering like this for so long. When I was young there were so many times I wanted to run away from Sohma house, but I never did. I could always find some rationalization to stay. The fact of the matter is I just wasn't strong enough or I could have left. I could have lived in the woods by myself in a tent. I could have done what he did."

"You can call it amazing, but I don't think the word does it justice." Shigure agreed, nodding his head.

"No, no it doesn't." There was a lull in the conversation where both cousins just stared at the strange boy sleeping in their house, both consumed in their own thoughts for the moment

"Do you mind keeping an eye on him? I'd like to go out for a while." Yuki said suddenly, standing up.

"What? Where? You're not going to try digging out that tent? You are, aren't you? Do you want me to come with you? It won't be an easy job for you alone."

Yuki turned around slowly. "You're right, but I don't think that I said that I was going alone." She opened the doors and left, eyes glowing and rats the rats, barely distinguished from the darkness itself, following in tow.

"Be safe, Yuki." Shigure turned and waved her goodbye.

 _Tohru. Tohru. You've got a fever again. You don't have to push yourself so hard. You don't have to do things the way I did. You can just be yourself. Do things your own way one step at a time. You'll get there. I promise._ "Mom?" _Just be yourself, you'll be fine._ He woke up looking into his mom's face. This was a little out of place, so he sat bolt upright. "Mom, you're here, but how did you…?"

"Good Morning." He heard a familiar voice come from the open door. "How are you feeling today?" It was Yuki.

"Um, I guess, I…"

Yuki laid two bags on the porch in front of Tohru. "I've brought your things for you. I think this is all of them if you'd like to check?"

"Yuki, this must have taken you all night."

Yuki chuckled slightly. "Don't be silly."

"So then, how did you… I mean there was so much!"

"It's a secret." This took Tohru by surprise.

"Oh…"

"I know the place is dirty…" Yuki started, whiplashing the conversation so that Tohru was confused.

"What?"

"And I realize the idea of living with two strange people might seem a little awkward, but there is an extra room upstairs. You're welcome to stay there if you like."

"NO! NO! NO! Out of the question!" The boy protested.

"We're not that strange…" Yuki said, a slight pout in her voice.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!"

Shigure came out of nowhere behind him. "Of course it won't be free. I do intent to pay you for your services."

The young boy was astounded. They were both in on it! "For my services?"

Shigure got way to excited. "As our brand new housekeeper!"

The two cousins took the boy's bags and started walking to the stairs. "We'll just take your things to your room now. I assume your references will all check out?" Shigure joked.

Tohru spoke up. "Wait! I can't let you do this, not after all of the trouble you've gone through already. Please, it's too much!"

Yuki turned her head around to face Tohru. "Honda-san. We're doing this because we want to. You don't have to worry that it's causing us any trouble, and besides, where else can you go?"

Tohru thought about that for a minute and realized that the girl was right. "Well, if I'm going to stay here I'll work for room and board, and that's it. I don't want any money, and I want to know all the rules of the house. I…"

"Relax, it's alright. You can do things your own way here. The only thing you have to do is be yourself. Fair enough?"

 _Just be yourself, you'll be fine._ That was alright with Tohru.

Yuki and Shigure went for a walk, and Shigure started to worry. "I don't know. Do you really think it's a good idea having a boy in the house?"

"Naturally, now it occurs to you to worry, but I wouldn't. We'll be okay as long as he doesn't try to hug me."

Little did they know that just above them, in the trees, was an orange-haired mess waiting to happen.

"All's well that ends well, I guess, but I'm still not sure how I ended up in Yuki's house, or borrowing some of Shigure's clothes. It's like being in a dream." Tohru was standing in Shigure's clothes, which drowned him because they were so large.

Yuki was opening the window in Tohru's new room. "I apologize for the smell. We've had this room closed off for some time. It's probably best to keep the windows open for a while." As she spoke the ceiling started creaking and making awful noises before it finally gave way, and the roof came tumbling down into the room. Someone came through the hole in the roof in front of Tohru. She had bright orange hair, and orange-brown eyes. Her hair was so long that the tips of her hair brushed her lower spine, and it was braided. She was wearing a black, v-neck t-shirt, and Khaki pants. She was also rather angry-looking.

When she started speaking, her voice was filled with malice, and something similar to hate. "Yo, time to pay the piper, rat girl. I'm here to collect." She was rubbing her right shoulder as if warming up to pitch a baseball or something like that, and she looked quite threatening.

"Funny, I would have thought he'd send somebody bigger." Yuki looked rather amused as she spoke. Shigure was downstairs wondering what was going on. It sounded like Yuki and Tohru were dancing up there or something.

The orange-haired girl growled a little, and said "That's right, you better get your tough-talk out of the way while you can, cause I'm about to wipe that stupid little smirk right off your face!"

They were about to fight, so Tohru took a step forward. "Wait, don't fight!" Then he tripped over a broken piece of wood from the ceiling. She fell right on top of the orange-haired girl.

The girl screamed before a cloud appeared, accompanied by a _poof_ sound, and then they were a tangled heap on the floor.

Shigure popped his head around the corner "Yuki, what were all those crashing sounds I just heard? Kyoko's not here is she?"

Tohru stood abruptly. "I'm so sorry, are you alright? I…" She cut short when she was holding up an orange cat. "Ah, I turned her into a cat, I'm so sorry, I don't know how it happened, but we're going to help you, okay?" He was panicking, wondering what the crap was going on and having no way to fix it.

While he was freaking out over the cat Shigure was trying to cut in. "Um, excuse me?" and Yuki just looked pissed off.

He continued his freak-out session. "Hurry, we need to get him to a doctor right away!" Just then a piece of wood fell from the ceiling, and it hit Tohru right on the head. As it hit him he fell over into Yuki. Another _poof_ happened, and suddenly there was a rat…

 _Oh, Mom, I think this must all be a dream. Everybody's turning into animals!_

…

Tohru went bolting down the stairs as fast as he could, carrying the cat that had been the orange-haired girl and the rat that had been Yuki in his arms. As he was coming down the stairs, Shigure was at the door, getting mail from a very cute, female post-woman whom he was trying to flirt with. On the second to last step, Tohru tripped over his own feet and fell into the older man, knocking him into the post-woman accidently. Suddenly, there was the same cloud and _poof_ noise as before with Yuki and the angry girl, but this time Shigure was gone! In his place sat a big, black dog that was holding Shigure's clothes in his mouth. The woman at the door looked startled, and stared down to see the big, black dog with a bunch of clothes in its mouth and watched it like it was odd, but not too odd to leave screaming. When Tohru picked himself up off the ground and noticed that there was a dog standing where Shigure had been a few moments ago, he picked up the dog, and once he had all three animals in his arms he basically screamed at the poor woman. "Call a doctor, or a vet, or anybody! Oh! Mrs. Postman! It's terrible! You see? They're animals!

The woman smiled at the boy and reached in her bag. "Well, uh, yes, they certainly are! Here's your mail."

Tohru was still determined to prove what he meant. "No, No, we've got to do something!" The dog stood up on its four legs and took the mail from the woman carefully in its mouth, surprising both of the still-humans.

The postman laughed. "I wish my dog was this smart." She turned and left. "Good day!"

Tohru shrunk to the floor with despair.

"Dammit! How am I supposed to come up with an excuse if both of you transform, too?" An angry voice snapped, hissing. Tohru turned around in surprise to hear voices when the only ones in his general vicinity were three animals.

"Don't you dare try to blame this on us, you stupid cat!" The rat was talking from on top of the dog's head.

"Go ahead! Say that again!" The cat was hissing, and taunting the rat.

"Stupid… cat…" The rat taunted right back.

"Why you little…" The cat looked like he might murder the rat, which wouldn't have been odd under normal circumstances, but these animals were once human so…murder was out of the question.

"Cut it out, both of you!" The dog interjected into the argument, sounding a lot like Shigure. Tohru went white from shock. _You mean they talk, too?_ The cat continued to hiss, refusing to say anything else. "Anyway, it's too late for excuses. We might as well tell him the truth." The dog turned its head toward the astounded boy, and started introducing himself, and his cousins. "Tohru, I'm a dog. Yuki here, she's a rat. That's Kyoko. Don't let her temper scare you, she's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder." The cat was facing the wall, and she kept turning around to hiss at them.

"So this is normal?" The young boy seemed very confused, and honestly, nobody would be surprised that he was.

"Strange choice of words, but yes. Our family has lived with this curse for generations." The dog explained. "We transform into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac." The orange cat turned around angrily. "Sorry, the twelve animals, plus the cat. Anyway, whenever our bodies come under a great deal of stress, or when we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex we transform. After a little while we change back. The only thing is, uh…" Just then there were three _poofs_ and they were all human again, but…they weren't wearing any clothes! "...We're naked…"

The boy turned around quickly, distressed and trying hard not to see anything he shouldn't see. Thank goodness there had been clouds of smoke or steam or whatever it was that hid Yuko, Shigure and Kyoko otherwise, Tohru would've really seen more than he wanted too. He was blushing like crazy, but the other three seemed used to it and just picked up their scattered clothes and got dressed quickly. After the three Zodiac members were dressed they all made their way into the living room where they continued their discussion.

Shigure seemed to be the leader of this discussion, and so he was the one that started talking first. "Well, we must seem pretty strange to you at this point, huh?"

The boy sat across the table from the older man looking astonished, and rather embarrassed. "Eh… but it's not your fault if your family's cursed." His mind raced as he thought about the situation. _A family curse! I guess that would explain a few things. If Yuki turns into an animal whenever a boy hugs her that must be why she pushed that fanclub boy in the hall. She didn't want him to find out her secret._

"Tohru, didn't you say you used to wish you could be a cat?" Shigure butted into his thoughts, and yanked the boy from them.

"Yeah! Uh-huh!"

"What's it like seeing the real thing?" Yuki sat quietly behind her crazy, older cousin, watching the situation play out without uttering a word.

Tohru looked to the open door to his right, and realized something amazing. _Right! It's the cat from the Chinese Zodiac, like in the story!_ He lit up immediately knowing that the cat was right in front of him. It was like a dream come true! A strange dream, but it was still a good thing nonetheless.

Shigure continued, "Yes, it's hard to believe, I know, and I agree the phrase 'cat-like reflexes' doesn't really apply to her, the way she let you fall on her like that." He spoke critically, but joyfully as he smiled and waved his hand in the air like it was no big deal. "But she is a cat, albeit clumsier than most. Surprising, really, considering the amount of martial arts training she's had. I'm sure she'd tell you the same thing herself if she wasn't so busy brooding like a child."

All the while Tohru was watching Kyoko as she fumed, and got angrier and angrier through every one of Shigure's words, until finally she exploded, and yelled at him, standing up and facing the trio. "Ugh, WILL YOU SHUT UP! I told you it's not my fault! If you want to blame somebody, blame him!" She pointed at Tohru. "He shouldn't even be here!"

Yuki finally spoke up, interrupting Kyoko. "Leave him out of this. Who we choose to allow into this house is really none of your concern. You're the one who doesn't belong here." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and looked to the carrot-top with malice.

Kyoko officially lost it, and her fist came down on the solid wood table, breaking it clean in half. One half tipped up and the edge hit Tohru right in the forehead with a clunk, breaking the skin and causing blood to run down his forehead. Tohru didn't even have time to react or say, "ow" before Shigure was on him.

"Oh, Tohru, you're bleeding!" Shigure said worriedly. The young boy started to panic a little.

Yuki stood and walked over to Kyoko, backhanding her when she got to her. Tohru was suddenly more worried about them than himself. Shigure started again on a conversation piece. "I knew that Kyoko was reckless with her temper, but to act like this…"

Yuki looked murderous as she confronted the other girl. "You're still as stupid as ever, and I'm going to prove it to you by giving you exactly what you want, only this time I won't hold back!"

The other girl came at Yuki, fists curled, ready to fight. "Okay, sissy rat!"

Tohru was freaking out. "No! Yuki!" Shigure held out a hand to turn the younger boy's face around so that he could clean the little wound on his forehead, placing a Band-Aid over the cut.

"Don't worry; this goes back a lot farther than just today. Those two do nothing _but_ fight whenever they see each other." The two girls were throwing punches, dodging punches, and Kyoko looked like she was trying a lot harder than Yuki was and Yuki was calmly avoiding every attacking being thrown at her.

Tohru was worried about them, despite what Shigure said. "But, um, shouldn't we stop them?"

"No, it's okay." He finished putting a bandage on Tohru's head, and turned to watch the last of the fight. "It'll all be over in a second."

The two boys watched the girls fight, and at long last, Yuki made her move. She dodged Kyoko's kick, and was suddenly an inch away from her face. She ended the fight with a powerful kick, which sent her opponent flying through the fragile, sliding, wood-frame, paper door, and into the yard, head over heels and right into a rock face-first. The purple-eyed girl put her foot down, and turned out to the cat. "I told you I wouldn't hold back. You should have listened."

Tohru was pale, and was beyond the point of worry. "She sent her flying…" Shigure wasn't even worried about the girls, but instead was concerned for other, more material things. He spoke in a sing-song voice. "Yuki, try not to destroy the house, okay?"

Yuki replied calmly. "I really didn't mean to put her in the yard. She should learn to keep her guard up." She turned to Tohru, and remembered the table. "Honda-san, You're hurt."

Tohru wasn't worried at all about himself. "Oh, its fine, really, I'm okay. But I, uh, I'm not so sure about her…"

Yuki rejected his claim. "No, the only thing she's bruised is her ego." Kyoko was out in the yard, facing away from the others, and she felt awful. She was embarrassed, and hurt and was trying her best not to let it show.

Shigure didn't help the mood. "I'm guessing your dreams of being a cat are pretty much shattered at this point?"

Tohru was trying to be considerate in his answer, but he also felt sincere. "Well, I don't know… I wouldn't…" Kyoko got up and ran off. "Say that…" He looked at the girl that was still present. _It's hard to believe, Mom. All the boys call Yuki a princess, but I didn't think she could really be so, so noble. I just thought it was because she was cute and good at sports, but this, I've never seen her act like this at school._

Just as he finished his thought it reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing. "SCHOOL! Oh-no, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He ran around the house getting his uniform on, and running out the door. "Sorry! Thanks for everything! I gotta go, I gotta go!"

Shigure interrupted, and spoke over his hysterics. "I'm not so sure you want to go in that uniform." Tohru stopped short, and looked down at himself, and he remembered the night's adventures. His uniform was covered in dirt and scuff marks and Tohru was pretty sure it was torn in some places too. He couldn't go to school like this! "Ah, suddenly he remembers his adventures in the woods."

He tried to be optimistic. "I don't know, it's not that bad. Maybe no one will notice."

Shigure raised an eyebrow at the boy, stating the opposite. "Oh, I think they will."

Tohru was suddenly very realistic, and he turned and bowed to his elder. "You're right, but I promised Mom, I have to go to school."

Shigure replied, "Fine, don't let me stop you. A promise is a promise." He suddenly put his hand on his chin, as if he just had a thought. "Which reminds me, I will have to tell Akito about everything that's happened this morning."

Tohru had no idea who that was. "You have to tell who?"

This seemed to pull Shigure from a thought. "Oh, sorry, he's the head of the family."

The young boy looked slightly confused. "So, then, I guess this Akito, he must be someone really important, huh?" Yuki was standing behind Shigure looking put-off at the mention of Akito's name.

Shigure continued their conversation. "Well, he is to us at least, and after all we did just give away the big Sohma family secret."

"Oh, right." Understanding crossed the younger boy's face. "That does make sense, but I really am late, Goodbye!" He turned and left the house to go to school.

Shigure waved goodbye "Be safe!"

Yuki stood behind him looking murderous. "Since when have you been so talkative about our family matters?" Shigure looked dejected. "You're planning on erasing Honda-san's memories aren't you? Just like in the old days."

Shigure turned around. "That's not my intention. This isn't like before. Too many people knew about us back then. It couldn't be helped."

Yuki turned to go back up the stairs. "Fine, I'm going to school." She went to ready herself for the coming school day.

Later on in the school Tohru was standing between his two best friends, Hana and Uo, waiting for his uniform to be washed while bumming around in a borrowed sweat suit. "Thanks again for letting me use the washing machine."

Uo looked at him with a skeptical look on his face. "Believe me, I did us all a favor. Now, how did you say you got so dirty?"

Before he could answer, the three crazy fanclub boys all came out of nowhere with their crazy chant. "L O V E, we love Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! La la la la la la la la love, la la la la la la la la love!"

"So, Tohru, how come the dirty clothes? Did Princess Yuki give you the ditch?" The blonde leader teased the boy, and laughed along with the other two. Hana stepped in then, and threatened to shock them all with electric waves of some kind or another, and they all took off down the hall, Hana chasing them.

Uo stood next to Tohru. "Good grief, those boys give me a headache. Their princess doesn't show, so they have to bother someone, but why you I wonder?"

Tohru was suddenly nervous. _I can't imagine what they'd do if they knew I was staying at Yuki's house. I think even Uo and Hana would be upset if they knew._ "Oh well, silly, silly. I had better go change now."

Uo looked over at his friend and wondered what was going through his head.

Tohru went to change, and when he came back out of the dressing rooms he found Yuki standing outside waiting for him. "Hello, Honda-san."

"Oh, Yuki! Hi…"

"So, did you tell them? Your friends, about this morning?" Tohru though she was talking about the cut on his forehead so he just spouted out the first words that come to him.

"Umm, I told them I tripped…" And then he realized that Yuko was talking about something else entirely, and feeling stupid he quickly changed course. "OH! Your secret! No, no, I didn't. I promise I won't tell a soul. Mom always said it's not right to gossip. Oh, but you don't know me that well yet."

Yuki tried to interject, but failed pretty quickly. "No, really…"

Tohru continued, getting right up in the girl's face. "I swear! I'll write it in blood if you want. Cross my heart and hope to die! Whatever it takes for you to believe me. I'll swallow a thousand…" Just then Yuki was coming at him.

She pushed him right up against the wall, and put her hands on each side of the boy's head. "That's not what I meant." She paused. "I'm sorry. I do believe you when you say you'll keep our secret, but it doesn't matter. We still might have to erase your memory. It won't harm you, it's something like hypnotism. You'll simply forget everything you saw this morning. I know this, because this isn't the first time someone has learned about us.

"It happened when I was seven years old. I was playing with some other children in the garden behind our house." She continued with the story about how they were playing a game, and they were having a great time, laughing, and running around, until one boy tripped over a rock and landed on her, turning her into a rat. "After that we had to erase every one of those children's memories." She spiraled into deep thoughts and memories about herself asking Akito questions. _Akito? Am I really that strange? Am I so strange that we have to hide it from everyone?_

 _Akito answered harshly "Hm, yes, you are that strange. A human that turns into a rat? What do you think they would do if they knew? Really? You're a freak. They wouldn't come near you. They'd hate you."_

 _Would Tohru hate me? Would he think I'm a freak?_ Suddenly Yuki was pulled from her thoughts, and she hadn't even noticed that she had stood upright, away from Tohru. "Yuki? Are you alright?"

"Hm, but I can't go against Akito's decision, whatever it is. I can't stop him no matter how much I might want to. That's why I'm sorry." She started walking away. Tohru chased after her.

"Wait!" He bumped into her, turning her into a rat, once again, with a big poof. "I am so sorry! Really, I didn't do it on purpose!" He was up against the wall, facing it with his hands balled into fist above his head. He felt so bad for turning Yuki into a rat again. "Uh, I'm such an idiot! I wasn't even thinking!"

Yuki was much calmer about the whole situation. "It's alright, just as long as no one else saw." Tohru lifted his hanging head in slight surprise.

"Oh… Okay…" He picked up the little rat and held her in his hands. "What I wanted to say was: Thank you for being concerned about me, but really, its okay. I'm fine. I'm not scared, so don't worry. I mean, I completely understand if you and your family don't want anyone to know about your secret. That's why it's called a secret, right? So whatever you decide is fine with me. I want you to do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable." _I don't really like the idea of losing my memory, and I don't want to forget meeting Yuki, but he's done so much for me without asking anything in return, so I guess if that's what I have to do…_ "You can erase my memory, but afterwards, promise you'll still be my friend?" Tohru smiled, wanting to show Yuki that he was completely okay losing his memory of the morning, but he didn't want to lose his new friend.

Suddenly there was a _poof_ , and Yuki was a girl again, and Tohru was quickly averting his eyes. He was surprised at how short a time she was a rat. Earlier he had been a rat for quite some time. This time was much shorter. Yuki quickly stood to dress herself. "Sorry, the amount of time before we change back varies a bit."

"It's okay…" Once the girl was once again presentable they turned to face each other, and Tohru was astounded at the girl's tie knotting skills. Her uniform tie was a mess. Tohru chuckled a little. "Yuki, where did you learn to tie a tie?" Yuki looked down in embarrassment.

"I guess I've never been very good at this sort of thing." Tohru laughed again, and went to help the girl fix her tie, completely forgetting exactly where the tie was situated on the girl's uniform. It was directly in the center of her chest and the boy realized at his hands touched the fabric of the tie. And now he had the hide the fact that he'd forgotten and then remembered that he was knotting a tie mere millimeters away from Yuki's boobs.

"Don't feel bad, nobody's perfect. Good thing you have me here." He expertly fixed the tie around the girl's neck, covering his awkwardness with light conversation so that Yuki wouldn't focus on where his hands were. (And for the record, Yuko knew exactly where is hands were and chose to ignore them.) Akito's words ran through Yuki's head and realized that Akito was wrong all those years ago. _You're a freak, they wouldn't come near you. They'd hate you._

"Honda-san… it really didn't bother you to see?"

Tohru answered obliviously, finishing with the tie and getting hands away from Yuki's chest as fast (and not obviously) as he could. "Oh, don't worry; I closed my eyes in time."

"No, I didn't mean that." Yuki was suddenly rather embarrassed.

"Huh?" Now the boy was just confused.

Yuki left it alone and changed subjects. "So, can I walk you to class?"

Tohru answered happily. "Uh-huh!" Yuki was so excited to finally have a true friend, one that didn't care about the curse, and one that wanted to be around her no matter what. _But afterwards promise you'll still be my friend?_ He had said that, and he knew things were going to get better from there.

They started walking toward Tohru's classroom quietly, only breaking the silence when Yuki said two simple words: "Thank you."

Tohru didn't know what for, but answered anyways. "No problem." Then it hit him. "Fixing ties is my specialty!" Yuki simply laughed at the boy's innocence and obliviousness.

Meanwhile, Shigure sat with Akito at the main house, and had told him the whole story. He was waiting for Akito to make his decision. Akito sat quietly in his loose kimono, holding a small, white bird on his finger for a moment before making a decision. "I believe I will trust Mr. Honda, for Yuki and for Kyoko, even for myself. This may be a great opportunity." Shigure nodded solemnly, and took his leave.

Yuki and Tohru went straight home from school that afternoon, and when they arrived there was no one in sight, so they both yelled out to see if anyone was home. Yuki said "I'm back!"

Tohru was a little more specific. "Hello! We're home from school!" When no one answered Yuki went to Shigure's office, "Shigure?", but when he opened the door no one was there, so he figured, "He must have gone out."

Tohru was at the base of the stairs, ready to go put his things away. "I'm gonna go put away my bag."

Yuki answered cheerily, "Okay!"

When Tohru gut up to his room he walked in to see a ladder in the middle of the room, and an orange-haired girl on top of it, taping the ceiling she had broken that morning. When she came down she saw Tohru looking up at the paper and tape. "Don't freak out, it's only temporary. You can call someone to fix it better later. This'll at least keep the rain out until then."

"Yes, thank you." He was surprised to see her there after she ran off that morning. _I did hope I'd get to her again after she ran off, but I don't think she likes me very much._

The girl pulled him from his thoughts. "Hey!"

"I'm here!" He was startled and nervous. Kyoko was holding, or more like squeezing the crap out of the roll of tape.

"I'm not very good at controlling my temper. When I get angry I… I don't know, maybe I don't have enough training. I just… I can't stand losing to that damn Yuki, so about this morning, it wasn't… what I mean is… I'm so…" When she turned around to talk to Tohru he was turned around, and Shigure interrupted their conversation, yelling to anyone in the house that was within earshot.

"I'm home! Yuki, Tohru, are you here? And Kyoko, I hope you're not doing something stupid, and tearing up my house again!" Tohru turned around with a smile on his face at the return of his host, but the interruption just pissed of Kyoko and she took off down the stairs at an angry, fast, stomping pace.

"Oh, forget it!" She was at boiling point. Tohru tried to stop her, but she just kept going until she had slammed the front door behind her.

"Wait! Please don't go." He tried, but it was too late. She was gone.

Shigure had watched it happen, and he spoke up once Kyoko was gone. "She'll be back. It's not like she has anywhere else to go, but never mind her. Can you come in here for a second?" and he went through the door to the front living room.

Tohru followed. "Uh, okay." He turned to the door once more, as if to see if the girl would miraculously come back. When she didn't he turned and followed Shigure.

When the three remaining people in the house were all sitting around the table Shigure announced his news of the day. "I had a little talk with Akito today. He's decided that as long as you can keep our secret you can stay here."

Tohru was relieved. "Oh, good. So then there's no punishment?"

Shigure was rather confused by the question. "Punishment? Why would we…? You can keep the secret?"

"Yes!" _That's great news! I won't have to lose my memory!_ He was so excited, but Yuki looked a little sad.

Shigure was walking through the house after their discussion, headed to his office, but was stopped by Yuki. "Shigure. It all seems too easy, doesn't it? I can't help but think Akito has something else in store for us."

Shigure looked back at Yuki over his shoulder. "I don't know." He suddenly turned a full turn and was now facing the young girl. "But don't worry so much, everything's going well. Enjoy it! For now let's just trust Akito to do what's best."

Yuki looked skeptical. "Excuse me." Tohru caught their attention. "Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt, it's just that you've been so nice to me. I hope it's no trouble." Shigure smiled, and Yuki looked surprised.

Yuki answered for the both of them. "Uh, no…" She looked confused, but then her face brightened a bit. "No, of course it isn't."

"Make yourself at home, okay?" Shigure tacked that on at the end, and they gained Tohru's confidence.

He was happy to be where he was. "Okay!" _It looks like everything's gonna be okay, Mom. Even after everything that happened this morning the Sohmas have still invited me to stay in their house. I guess this will be our home for a while._

The next day was kitchen cleaning day for Tohru. When he walked in he was astounded at the mess, even though he had seen it a few days earlier. It was just as bad…if not worse! Yuki just looked embarrassed about the whole thing.

Tohru was optimistic though, as usual. "Well, it's not gonna clean itself!" He put on a smile, and was ready to get to work.

Yuki offered to help. "I'll help you. Just tell me what to do!"

Shigure opened the door behind them just then, and rejected the idea of Yuki helping. "You'd better not. The closest thing Yuki's ever seen to a mop is that haircut of hers. I think she'd just get in the way." Yuki looked slightly upset at that comment.

Tohru also rejected it. "That's alright! I'll take care of it. We did all make a deal that I would do the housework in exchange for my room. I wouldn't be earning my keep if I let you two help me!"

Shigure took his leave. "Well, I can see we're in good hands. I'm going to go find Kyoko, and I'll be out with her for a while. We should be back by lunch time."

"Sure! Just leave it to me!"

"In that case I guess I'll go out, too." Yuki said with content.

"Fine, I'll be done when you get back."

When they had both left he tied a handkerchief around his head, and started doubting a little, but only for a moment. "What was I thinking? I don't even know where to start, but Tohru Honda never gives up!" With that he reached in front of him, and started with the garbage. He whirred around the kitchen and cleaned with ferocity, and a speed like you've never seen before. He cleaned dishes, took out garbage, mopped floors, wiped windows, and started the lunch by putting it on the stove. When he was done there were clean dishes by the sink, rice cooking in the rice maker, and a pot of stew boiling on the stovetop. He finished just in time for lunch. "And that's that." He said to himself with finality.

Just then Yuki walked into the kitchen, and almost didn't recognize it. "Huh? Amazing! If I didn't know better I'd think I walked into the wrong house." She walked over to the rice cooker. "Since when do we have a rice cooker?"

"I found it in the trash." He seemed rather excited about that. "And I found where the trash is supposed to go!" Pointing to the garbage in the corner where the trash pile had traditionally started, but had gotten buried under the mess that the kitchen had become. Yuki was shocked to find out they had had a trash can in the first place. "Oh, by the way, I hope you've got your appetite, because lunch is almost ready!"

Once lunch was ready they laid it out on the table, and started to eat. Yuki took her first bites and was amazed. "Mm, It's delicious!"

"You think so? You don't think it's too bland?" Tohru was skeptical of his work, and Yuki's words.

"It's perfect! The best lunch I've ever had."

"Don't be silly." The boy protested lightly.

"That reminds me." Yuki suddenly changed subjects. "I wonder where Shigure and that stupid cat ran off to."

"I don't know. He said they'd be back by lunch time."

"Well, shame on them. It's rude to let a meal this good get cold." She took another bite.

Tohru was once again lost in thought. _It's so strange. I guess I still haven't gotten used to the idea of living here, but here I am having lunch with Yuki._ "Oh, yeah. You went out for a while, too, didn't you? Where'd you go? Shopping?"

Yuki answered, "Oh, no. I just went out back to my secret base."

Suddenly Tohru was very excited. "What? You have a secret base? You mean like a fort, or an underground hideout? That sounds so exciting!" He had it in his head that a secret base was some elaborate thing.

Yuki knew better. "I don't think it's quite as elaborate as what you're thinking, but I'll tell you what. Next time I'll take you with me."

Now Tohru was so excited his hair was standing on end. "What? Do you really mean it? I'm going to a secret base! I've always wanted to see one in person." Now he was talking so fast he was barely understandable. "The neighborhood boys had one when I was a kid, but I was never allowed. I can't wait to see…" Just then the door slammed open, and Shigure and an angry Kyoko were there.

Shigure was yelling at Kyoko, but she just yelled right back. "Stop! Kyoko, just listen to me!"

She was very upset, and went straight for the other side of the room to the other door to escape Shigure. "I don't want to hear it! You think it's fun jerking me around like that."

Shigure was chasing him, and the weird part about all of this was that he was in a suit and tie. At first Tohru couldn't pay attention to what he was saying because he looked funny to the boy with his hair combed back nicely and wearing a suit. Tohru shook his head, finally concentrated on what he was saying. "Now, hold on, it wasn't… Okay, it was a little bit fun, but that's not why I did it. It was for your own good! And don't forget it was Akito's decision." He stopped in the middle of the room.

"Shut up! I don't give a damn about Akito!" he stopped half-way through the door.

Tohru tried to lighten the mood a little. "Oh, are you hungry? I made you some lunch."

Kyoko wasn't in the mood for a lighter mood though. "Shut up!" She slammed the door as she left.

Shigure made another point clear, but didn't set the best example. "Kyoko! Don't take this out on Tohru! And use the front door next time! And take off your shoes!" Shigure quickly took off his shoes after the fact.

Yuki pitched in. "You're setting a fine example." It was a rather sarcastic comment.

Tohru looked up at Shigure in a suit. "This is the first time I've seen you in a suit. It looks good on you."

Shigure bent over to emphasize, and get a little closer to Tohru's face. "Hm, you don't say?"

Yuki was feeling sarcastic, so she but in again. "You look like a butler."

Shigure then spotted the food on the table. "Ah, lunch is ready." He stood and went to sit down.

"Yes, but shouldn't we see about Kyoko?" He was worried about the cat.

Shigure smiled and took of his coat before sitting down. "Oh, her? She just needs to let off some steam. She's angry that I made her take an entrance exam."

Tohru was confused. "An entrance exam? For what?"

"Funny you should ask." Shigure answered nervously. "As of today Kyoko is officially the newest student at your school. Oh, and he's also going to be living with us from now on, too."

Yuki was suddenly furious. "Don't you take a single bite. Get out!" She looked ready to tear her older cousin's head clean off.

Shigure actually looked nervous. "Eh-heh, well, I had a feeling you'd be upset. You see, Kyoko pulled a bit of a vanishing act on us. She just up and disappeared for four months, and do you know where she disappeared to? He was up on a mountaintop, training."

Tohru was once again confused. "What kind of training."

Yuki wasn't confused. "Let me guess, he's been meditating under waterfalls and fighting bears."

Shigure scratched his head. "Well, I'm not so sure about that part. The point is, Kyoko really wants to beat Yuki." He glanced and Yuki, and Yuki looked away.

Yuki muttered. "Stupid cat…"

Tohru just tried to figure it out in his head. _So, Kyoko spent all that time trying to beat Yuki, and Yuki really doesn't seem to like Kyoko at all either. This is just like the old story. After the rat tricked the cat, the cat must have been angry for a long, long time. Maybe that's why Yuki and Kyoko don't get along. I don't know… And somehow I get the feeling she wouldn't want to talk about it with me._

A few days later Kyoko started school, and all of the boys had questions, and were gathered around her at her new desk. "I wonder if she could tell us anything about Yuki."

"So cute!"

"Not as cute as Yuki!"

"Where is she?"

"I think she's amazing. Oh, wow. Oh my goodness."

"What do you think? Is she really princess Yuki's cousin?"

"I'll bet she knows everything about her."

Kyoko was very uncomfortable, and became more so the longer she sat in the midst of the throng of boys wanting to know everything. Tohru stood back, and watched from a distance. "Poor Kyoko. She looks so scared."

Hana stood next to him, and spoke mysteriously. "They're the same."

Uo and Tohru were confused. "Huh?"

"Her electric signals are exactly the same as Yuki's." Another electric report from Hana. "I don't know, but there's something about them that's almost inhuman."

Tohru started to freak out that Hana would figure out the secret. Uo saved it though. "Hana, that's just rude." Yuki walked past them, and Uo called his attention. "Uh, hey. Question. So this new girl, is she really your cousin or what?"

Yuki turned around to address Uo. "Yes, that is the rumor going around. I'd prefer to leave it at that." She turned back around and walked away.

Suddenly there was a commotion on the other side of the room where Kyoko was, and the fanboys were yelling at her as she walked away. "Hey, I thought we were talking!"

"Wait, come back." One boy tried to hug her shoulder, and she lost it. She turned around and pinned the boy on the ground. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Tohru was worried about it, and he yelled across the room. "Kyoko! I don't think that's a good idea!" Kyoko was beyond hope, and she had a crazy look in her eyes.

Everyone was freaking out, and eventually she blew a lid. "Leave me alone!" she took off for the open window, and threw herself out of it to get away from the crowd of boys. She landed two stories down, just like a cat, and started running as fast as she could.

The fanboys went crazy over the situation. The leader was impressed. "Amazing! That proves it. She's definitely related to Princess Yuki."

The dark-haired boy was amazed. "I can't believe she jumped."

The redhead was crying slightly. "Hey, aren't you forgetting about me? I did just get my arm ripped off!"

Uo, Hana, and Tohru were all watching from the other window, and Uo was laughing. "That was hysterical. She looked like a cat trying to get out of a bath." Yuki was behind the crowd, facing away from the window, annoyed, and not interested. She went to the door, and left, slamming it behind her.

Tohru felt bad for Kyoko. "Poor Kyoko…" _She really is like the cat from the old story, Mom. She must feel so alone right now, but who knows, maybe… maybe one day we can be friends._ He thought to himself while he watched Kyoko run away.

 **Here it is guys! My first genderbend story! This is a re-hash of the Fruits Basket series with the genders of the main characters switched! (Only in the process of switching their genders I had to work on switching other character's genders to make the story work!) I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also want to thank my beta reader ZareEraz for the inspiration that started this story and for editing it for me! Remember to review, and constructive criticism is also welcome. Thanks everyone!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Thanks for your patience in waiting for this chapter. Just a quick heads-up! There might be a few terms you don't know, so when you come across one of those, if there is one of these: (*) Then I have defined it for you at the bottom of the chapter. If you already know what they are, that's great, too. And please excuse any little mistakes that may have been missed. I'm not perfect, nor is my beta reader.**

 **Thanks to ZareEraz for being an amazing beta reader, and also for all of the ideas you have given me.**

 **Lastly, I have had to change some names in this story to make it fit. For example: Kyo isn't exactly a girl's name, so I had to change it, and there are others that I'm going to have to change throughout as well, so bear with me.**

 **Thanks for all of the support, and don't forget to review!**

 **Chapter 2**

Ruckus!

Kyoko jumped out the window and landed two stories down, just like a cat, and took off running as fast as she could. She didn't want anything to do with those boys. _They're crazy!_ She thought as she ran away. She ran until she found an empty, secluded spot in a courtyard. There were trees, a small walkway that led from one building to another, and little cement walls that acted like benches. It was quiet there, and she thought she might get some peace and quiet for a moment. The carrot-top sat on one of the benches, panting from her long run across campus.

She leaned over with her elbows on her knees, her long hair falling over her shoulder with her bangs in her eyes, and her head tilted forward, trying to catch her breath. _I hate this place…_ She wished she had stayed up in the mountains even after her master had left. Why did Akito have to make her do this?

She had been sitting there for only a short time panting, and hating school, when she heard light footsteps to her left. Before she knew it she was being addressed by a voice that was far too familiar. "Hey." The girl's voice was firm, but still soft as usual.

Kyoko looked up after hearing that too-familiar voice, and saw exactly the person she didn't want to see. Yuki was standing in front of her, angled away from Kyoko, with her arms folded across her chest, looking sternly out of the corner of her eye at the trouble-making orange-top. "What were you trying to prove, pulling a stunt like that? Think! If you act like an idiot I'm the one who's going to hear about it." She was obviously upset with Kyoko, and wasn't worried about her at all. She just didn't want to be lectured by any adults in the future because of the reckless acts of her cousin. Kyoko really hated that damn rat. _Why does she have to be so heartless? I mean, maybe I wouldn't hate her so much if she could just be a normal human being for once._

"It serves you right! Why do you want to go to a school with all of these crazy, babbling boys anyway?" Kyoko let her head fall back down to look at the ground in front of her. She already hated this school because of the boys that swarmed her. They weren't even swarming her because she was cute. They just wanted to know more about that damn Yuki. She just couldn't figure out how she even dealt with them on a daily basis.

Yuki turned to face her cousin, and replied calmly, but her eyes betrayed her anger. "I suppose you'd prefer I live my life in fear of being transformed. You sound like Akito. He thought I should attend an all-girls academy, too." She closed her eyes, contemplating. "Which is why I came here; to get away from him, and out of that house."

Kyoko looked up at Yuki with her big, orange eyes, and looked away quickly, contemplating. Why on earth would she want to get away when she herself just wanted to get in? All she ever wanted was to be accepted. "What do you know? You're a spoiled little rat."

Tohru came running around the corner of the building, looking for the two girls who had disappeared. He stopped upon finding them in the courtyard, obviously upset with each other. He heard Kyoko talking as he approached, and slowed down as he heard more of the conversation. He had no idea what had happened up to this point, but he knew that it was nothing good. He poked his head around the corner as Kyoko continued her rant.

"You want out? Fine! But as for me, I'm going to prove it once and for all that I'm better than you, and then I'm going to take my place as a true member of this family! I'm not going to be left out anymore!" Her hair stood on end, just like an angry cat with its fur raised.

Kyoko stood up as her voice escalated from talking to yelling. She clenched her fists as Tohru watched from a few feet away. Yuki's eyes narrowed as she listened, seeing just how naive her cousin was. Kyoko stepped forward and took a handful of Yuki's uniform in her hand. "Do you hear me, Ratgirl?!" She was starting what looked to be a big fight, so Tohru went running to stop it.

He ran across the courtyard with full intent to stop the fight before it started, and collided with Kyoko, pushing her over "No!" as he collided with the girl there was another familiar poof with the accompanying sound. He fell toward the ground, and he dropped the cat on his way down, who landed feet first facing away from the boy. Kneeling on the ground with only the girl's clothes in arm, and a familiar orange cat standing in front of him, he realized what he had just done.

Yuki looked on in slight confusion, but she was more worried than anything. She was more concerned about Tohru and what he had just done more than anything. Kyoko was already angry, and now she was bound to be even more so. The cat had her tail straight up, and her back was arched, and her fur standing on end. She was officially pissed off. Tohru didn't even know what to do. "I am so sorry." He looked up and tried to explain himself in full-on panic mode. "But I saw what was going on, and I guess I just panicked." He looked down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry that you're angry, but fighting at school isn't a good idea. You'll get into huge trouble if they catch you, and on your first…"

Kyoko interrupted her, and turned her head around in pure rage. She could care less what day it was or if she got in trouble. "Shut up!" Tohru looked at the cat in surprise. "Who do you think you are? This is between me and her! This has nothing to do with you! You stupid little boy! From now on just STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" She hissed as she shouted. Kyoko jumped slightly to turn all the way around to face the young boy, baring her fangs threateningly. Tohru's face fell and went pale with surprise.

The cat immediately regretted her decision to yell at the boy like that after he quickly distanced himself from the cat, dropping her clothes in front of her. He was walking away from both girls in fear. A sweat drop popped out on the cat's head as she watched the boy walk away. Yuki stood next to the other girl with her arms folded across her chest once again, looking annoyed, and she looked as if she had seen it coming. Tohru spoke to himself as he walked away. "Okay, that was maximum rage. She hates me, that's all there is to it. She really hates me." Kyoko held up a paw as if trying to call the boy back, but was, for once, out of things to say. She felt as if she had just been struck by lightning.

Once the boy was gone the cat had calmed down quite a bit. Yuki turned to walk away from her cousin, and spoke her mind on the way. "You are truly an idiot."

Kyoko was starting to get angry again. "So what? You're going to hit me now?" She almost wished that she would as some kind of punishment for the way she acted toward the boy she barely knew.

Yuki had other ideas. "And wouldn't it hurt more if I didn't." She knew that the cat wanted to feel as if she were punished for her actions so that she could move on, but she wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. She wanted Kyoko to have to think about her actions. With that she walked away.

Kyoko put a paw on the uniform next to her. She truly hated that uniform. The blue did not look good on her, and she hated wearing a skirt. She would much rather wear her cargo pants. There were lots of pockets to keep stuff in, and she never had to worry about modesty. She looked up and back at the way Yuki had gone, and thought about what the rat had said to her: " _And wouldn't it hurt more if I didn't."_ The rat had been right, of course. It did hurt. She felt so bad for talking to the boy that way, for yelling at him. She even swore at him. She didn't even know it. She wished her cousin had actually hit her so she wouldn't have to think about it anymore. She now had to think about it, and it was going to tear her apart.

There was a poof and the girl sat in the courtyard, naked. She looked around briefly to see if there were any windows or anyone watching. Once she deemed it safe she got dressed quickly into the uniform she hated so much and went home.

Tohru reflected on the story of the Chinese Zodiac as he sat alone in the hallway, still smarting from Kyoko's outburst. _I remember when I first heard the story of the Zodiac animals. All I could think about was the poor cat. While all the other animals were having a wonderful time at the banquet the cat was still lying in its bed dreaming of a party that would never come._ He reflected on his determination to become a cat instead of a dog. " _I know, I won't be a dog anymore. I'll be a cat, too!"_ She thought about telling her mom that. _And I really meant it._ He thought about the cute cat lying in a bed, purring. _I wanted to show the cat that, no matter what, she had a friend. I like cats so much I know I would have been the first to join a year of the cat fanclub, if there was such a thing. Now she hates me. I'm such a fool, Mom. A real fool._

Tohru was so deep in thought that he had no thought of his location. He was kneeling in the middle of the hallway outside his classroom on the floor. The longer he sat there thinking the more people stopped to stare at him and wonder why in the hell he was on the floor looking so sad. He was right underneath a fire extinguisher, so when he stood up he suddenly had an excuse to be on the floor. Of course he made it up as he went. He had a reason to stand up when he finally did: Hana and Uo had found him.

Hana had used his electric signals to find him, and he had an antenna coming out of the top of his head. "Incoming, Tohru's electric signals." The crowd around Tohru parted to make the boy's two best friends visible. Hana was pointing Tohru's direction when everyone had moved.

"There he is!" Uo came forward and bent down, worried about his best friend. "Hey, what are you doing kneeling in the hall? Class is…" He was interrupted by Tohru hitting his head on the fire extinguisher case with a big bang that resonated through the hallway. He hit the metal case really hard, and was holding his head.

"Ow! I can't believe I did it again! I bumped my head." He leaned forward and rested his head on the front of the case, rubbing the corner where he hit. "That almost hurt worse than the first time. Look, I'm crying it hurt so bad." He turned around, and he was, indeed, crying. Tears were streaming down his face from the excruciating pain. He came up with this excuse on the spot, but Uo didn't quite buy it completely.

"I _would_ worry, but I don't think his brain damage could get any worse…" The boy just let it go, and they went to class.

Meanwhile at Shigure's house Kyoko had returned, and had given up on the idea of going to school for the day. She was laying on the deck outside of Shigure's office fuming about, well, everything. Shigure finally addressed her when he figured it was safe enough to. "So, you're home. Had enough school for one day, huh?" Shigure was in the background working on something.

Kyoko lay on her side, facing away from Shigure, picking at the flooring. "I don't want to live in this house anymore." She spoke sadly.

Shigure decided to be frank and honest with her, seeing as how she was in an okay mood. "If you can train on a mountain for four months I think you can endure more than three days here."

"I said such terrible things to him…terrible..." suddenly it all made sense to Shigure.

"And by 'him' I take it you mean Tohru." He held his pencil up to his chin in thought as he continued what he was doing. "Let me guess. You lost your temper and yelled at him again, right?" He put his chin in his hand, and held up a finger to scold the girl, even though she couldn't see him. "You know you shouldn't do that if you're just going to regret it. Not too bright now, is it?"

"Save your breath, I'm just not meant to get along with other people, period. End of story." She was genuinely sad about it.

"Oh, sure. Some people just aren't." Shigure was now teasing the girl, so he came across a little heartless at first, until he changed tactic. "But you're not one of them. You lack experience, that's all. For example, I'm sure you could smash this table to bits with your bare hands, but I'm equally sure you could punch the table without breaking it, and why is that? Because I know your training has taught you to control your fists." Then the teasing Shigure came back. "At least I should hope so after four months of fighting bears and whatnot."

This statement really caught the girl's attention, because she had no idea where he could have gotten that from. "I didn't fight bears!" She sat up and turned her head towards her older cousin. She was rather surprised, and angry that he would even suggest something so ridiculous.

"My point is: it takes as much training to get along with people. Only, training by yourself in the mountains won't do you any good." The girl shifted to her back with her hands behind her head. "You need to surround yourself with others. As you get to know them, of course, you take a chance that you'll end up hurting them, or they'll end up hurting you." The girl listened intently, impressed with how sincere Shigure could be at times. "One of those things might very well happen. That's the only way we learn about others, and about ourselves. You're a black belt in martial arts, but I'd guess you've still got a white belt in social skills. Someday you're going to meet someone who truly wants to be your friend, and you theirs, but if you don't keep training you won't be ready when that happens."

Kyoko highly doubted that anyone would ever want to be her friend. She knew she was not very nice, and she really sucked at understanding people, and why they did things, or sometimes why she did things herself. "It'll never happen anyway." She was irritated just thinking about it.

"Ah-Ah, never say never." Kyoko turned back over to her side, facing the yard.

"Okay, fine, maybe if I meet somebody with brain damage or something." Shigure laughed at the girl.

"That's the spirit!" The door to Shigure's office opened and Yuki made herself known.

"I'm home!" Kyoko slunk off of the porch at her cousin's arrival at the house.

Shigure turned to greet his younger cousin. "Ah, so you are. Is Tohru not with you?" He looked at Yuki with a smile, and genuine curiosity.

"He had to work this evening, but he'll be done by eleven. I'm thinking about picking him up." The older cousin looked back down at his papers and contemplated it.

"That's probably a good idea. There are some real weirdos around here." As he said this Yuki had to hold back a smirk as she had a thought. _Shigure, you are a weirdo…and a pervert. That makes you a possible suspect for someone I would end up having to protect someone from…. or bail out of jail..._ She thought it, but didn't dare say anything.

One thing Yuki and Kyoko had in common with each other was that fact: they both believed that Shigure was a total pervert. And he was! Shigure was a weirdo. As Yuki thought that, Kyoko was around the corner thinking the exact same thing. The two girls would always agree on that one fact: Shigure is weird.

Tohru was on his way home from work later that night, tired from being at school and work all day. It was late and he just wanted to get home. As he walked down the wooded path on his way back it was very dark. The only reason he had any idea where he was going was because the moon was out lighting his way. The trees around him cast strange shadows, and the bushes rustled slightly, giving the forest a haunted aura. He tried to keep his mind off of just how creepy it was by trying to think about other things. _Another day's work over and done, but it's late. I wonder if anyone's still awake. I hope Kyoko at least got some dinner tonight if she wasn't too angry to eat again. Maybe I could…oh, but I'm probably the last person she wants to see…_

Kyoko's temper, and what she said to him earlier came back to his memory full swing. " _JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"_ The cat in his head from his memory was even angrier than he remembered. He imagined her with evil eyes, sharp cat fangs, and hair standing on end with her tail straight up in the air. He was so worried about the cat hating her. He held his bag up in front of her to partially hide his face. He didn't like the idea that someone could hate him. _No one's ever hated me before! I don't know what to do…_ He cried a little as he walked. His hair stood on end out of nervousness.

His mom popped into his head with her best line " _just be yourself, you'll be fine!"_ His eyes opened wide in realization and sheer determination. His mom was right, she was always right. This eased his pain a little. "Yes, you're right, Mom!" _I just have to keep trying._ He put his bag down again by his side, and continued walking at a steady pace.

As he continued walking he heard a strange noise just behind him always and off into the trees. Whoever or whatever it was had rustled a bush just off the path. His eyes opened wide again, but this time it wasn't determination or realization, but pure fear. Whatever it was, it was big to have made that much noise. _What was that! Is there somebody else here?_ He froze in fear of what might happen to him. He was not a very big person. He was considered to be rather small for his age, and he wasn't strong either. If someone decided to attack him or want to take something from him there wouldn't be much he could do.

The trees blew slightly in the wind, which only made his situation scarier. He looked around frantically for a moment before freezing again. His heart was pounding, and adrenaline was coursing through him. He didn't know whether to run or just sit still and see what would happen.

 _Oh, no. What if it's one of those weirdos Shigure warned me about!?_ This thought just made his heart pump even faster. He was more scared in this moment than he had ever been. He heard something right behind him, and it scared him to his breaking point. Whatever was behind him reached out to grab his shoulder just as he turned around, swinging his bag at full velocity to hit that creep right over the head! His hair stood on end as he swung, yelling with a rather girly squeal: "NO!"

When he opened his eyes he was looking straight into orange eyes that belonged to a girl with long, orange hair. His bag was still by her head, but it looked like the hit hadn't even affected the girl physically. He realized immediately what he had done, and started freaking out, eyes wide for a whole new reason, and now he was sweating from nervousness as well. _Ah! Kyoko! She's going to think I thought she was a stalker! Oh, but I guess I did…oh, but I can't tell her that! Ah!_ He stood frozen in shock at what he had just done. He didn't even lower his bag away from the girl's face.

They stood there awkwardly for a while before Kyoko turned around slowly to walk away. Tohru stopped her, putting his bag down by his side again and calling to her with a hand extended. "Uh, wait! I'm sorry! It was an accident!" He tried to come up with some kind of excuse on the spot. He extended his arm as a kind of demonstration. "I was just stretching my arm and… Oops! Funny how things like that happen, huh? But hey, it's nice to see you…" He was about to go on, but Kyoko got sick of listening to him rant.

"Quit babbling! If you've got something to say, say it." This left Tohru slightly confused. They stood there for another awkward moment. Tohru had no idea what the girl was talking about.

"Kyoko…" His voice was barely audible as he addressed the girl in confusion.

Kyoko answered venomously. "What?" She was still facing away from the boy.

Tohru smiled, still confused. He was just glad the girl was there at all. "I don't know what to say…"

Kyoko turned around in wrath, annoyed that he was still talking. "Then don't say anything!"

Tohru clutched his bag to his chest, and his hair stood on end, terrified of the girl in front of him. "I'm sorry!" There was, yet again, another awkward silence as Kyoko came down from her anger, and put a hand on her face.

She didn't know why she kept doing this to the boy. Why did she have to be so mean? "No, don't be. Say or don't say whatever you want." Tohru looked at her in surprise as she lowered her hand from her eyes to cover her mouth. She had a slight blush on her face. "And you don't have to, you know, stay away. I…ah, just hit me again if you're angry!" She was trying to get the words out, but she couldn't. She just wasn't good at this kind of stuff.

Tohru realized what the girl was trying to do. _I think… is she…she's trying to apologize for this morning, isn't she? Maybe that's why she came out here to meet me._ He reflected back on the day Kyoko fixed the ceiling in his room temporarily. _So, does that mean the other day after school, I think she was trying to apologize to me then too._ The girl had turned away slightly, and she turned back around to look at the boy when Tohru started to apologize himself. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I only hit you because I thought you were a stalker." This comment gave Kyoko a depressed look on her face. She hadn't expected to be called a stalker at that moment, and wasn't exactly happy about it. This even made her slightly upset, but not enough so to go on a rampage like usual. _Oh great._ She commented to herself in dismay. "So, you see, it wasn't because I'm mad at you! That's not it at all! In fact, I really like you." He got really serious for that last part.

Kyoko was taken even more by surprise at this comment. Her eyes flew open wide in shock and slight embarrassment. No one had ever really liked her before, except for two people, and one of those people was hardly ever around, and the other wasn't ever exactly welcomed by Kyoko. Tohru leaned forward and got right up in her face, his eyes wide with excitement that he was finally talking to the cat that he had always loved and respected. "I've always liked the cat from the Zodiac! What I mean is, I hope, maybe…" He got even closer, so close Kyoko had to take a small step backwards. "...we can be friends?"

Kyoko thought back to earlier that day. Shigure was right, sitting at his desk doing a crossword puzzle out of the morning paper. " _Someday you're going to meet someone who truly wants to be your friend."_ Kyoko blushed, realizing that Shigure was, indeed, right for once. Here was this cute boy, standing right in front of her, and he sincerely meant what he said. That was obvious, and he didn't even have brain damage as far as she could tell.

She turned around to hide the blush that appeared on her face and took a step forward. She covered her embarrassment with a slight insult. "What are you supposed to be? Some year of the cat fanclub?" She turned back around and walked past the boy, pointing toward the path to the house. "Come on, let's go back." She walked on ahead of the boy to go home.

Tohru stood in shock for just a moment, hugging his bag to his chest in excitement. He had finally made progress, even if just a little, with the stubborn and angry, yet kind-hearted cat. _I think I understand Kyoko a little bit better now. She doesn't always mean to get angry, sometimes it's just hard for her to say how she really feels, but deep down I believe she truly is a nice person, even though she tries to hide it most of the time._

Once the shock had worn off the young boy ran down the path to catch up to the girl who was walking down the path smugly, but really, she was pleased inside, but she would never let that show.

The next morning Tohru got up and made a huge breakfast for everyone. He made hirezake*, rice, miso soup, and tamagoyaki*, and had laid it all out on the table just as everyone else made their way down the stairs, following their noses to the scent of the delicious food. Even Kyoko looked excited for the meal. They all sat down to eat, and were in the middle of the meal when Shigure broke the silence.

"Kyoko! I heard you gave Tohru a little scare while you were out prowling around last night!" Shigure was sitting at the end of the table closest to the kitchen door still in his night kimono, and his hair was a mess. He had just picked up a piece of his tamagoyaki with his chopsticks and was about to put it in his mouth when he started teasing the poor girl about the night before on the walk home in the woods. He even sang a little tune to emphasize his point: "Kyoko's a stalker, Kyoko's a stalker! ~" He waved his chopsticks in front of his face in time with the tune.

A cross-vein popped out on Kyoko's cheek as she was ready to punch Shigure's nose up into his head. "YOU ARE SO FULL OF IT!" She was sitting at the table, ready for school in her blue uniform (short skirt and all), angry with everyone, as usual, but at least she was there. She pointed at Tohru next, and started yelling at him, too. "And you! Next time you need someone to walk you home don't look at me!" She closed her eyes, picked up her chopsticks and her bowl of rice, and started eating with ferocity.

Tohru smiled as he ate his own rice, just happy to see her there at the table. "That's okay. Anyway, I'd much rather see you here at the table like this more often." Kyoko continued to scarf down her rice. "I'm glad you're eating, how do you like the food?"

Kyoko paused her munching, brought her chopsticks away from her mouth, and looked up at the boy who had just asked her a question. "Hm?" She looked down at her food, contemplating her answer.

Yuki watched her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Kyoko noticed her eyes on her, and was suddenly irritated again. She yelled at the rat, cross-veins popping out of her head, irritated that the rat was staring at her. "What do you want?!"

Yuki answered calmly for having just been yelled at by her nemesis. "Nothing."

Kyoko had angry cat ears pop out of her head. "You were staring at me!"

"No, just looking." The rat tipped her head slightly, wondering why she was being yelled at for looking at the person sitting next to her.

Kyoko's cat ears on top of her head pricked up even more if that were possible, and her hair was raised just like cats do when they're angry. She pointed her chopsticks at the purple-haired girl. "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything!" She waved her chopsticks back and forth just like Shigure had only seconds earlier, but faster with more ferocity and less smoothly.

Tohru asked his question again. "Do you like it?" Kyoko was already annoyed, and acted recklessly. She balled up her hand that was holding the chopsticks, holding them together in her hand.

She hit the table in front of her, her cat ears disappearing, and another cross-vein taking their place. Her eyes dilated to the point where the pupils couldn't even be seen. She screamed at Tohru. "NO I DON"T!" Tohru's face went pale, and her eyes went wide in shock.

Shigure was calmly eating his rice, and Yuki sipped at her tea. They all froze as Kyoko stopped just short of finishing the last letter of her sentence. It was so awkward that no one moved for quite some time, and the rest of the breakfast was eaten in silence.

Once breakfast was finished, and the dishes were clean the trio left the house and set off for another day at school. All three of them were very quiet during their walk to school, rarely making any kind of comment other than pointing out that it was a nice day.

After school they had some free time before they had to go home, so Tohru came up with an idea. Kyoko was sitting at a desk looking formidable, and Uo and Hana stood behind her, watching her. Tohru approached the odd trio and held up a deck of cards for all of them to see. "Hey! Why don't we play _Rich Man, Poor Man_?" He smiled a great big smile, and was really excited. He had just learned how to play, and was really into it lately.

Kyoko remained where she was with her chin in her hand, and her eyes closed. She was just trying to make herself unknown to everyone. She didn't want the attention she had gotten the day before when she ended up running away, yelling at Tohru, and creating a huge mess for herself. "Ah, play it with that damn Yuki, I don't wanna." She sounded tired, and wasn't angry, she just didn't want to play and draw attention to herself.

Uo came up behind her to challenge her. He smirked at the girl, teasing her. "Running away from a challenge! What are you? Some kind of sissy?" Uo never liked to wear the uniform properly, just like Kyoko didn't wear hers correctly either. Neither of them wore their ties, and Uo left the top three buttons of his black uniform undone so the top part of his chest was easily seen. They looked like a couple of disgruntled messes when they were fighting because of the non-conformity of their uniforms, and especially Uo with his long hair that fell over his left eye.

Kyoko stood up and got right in Uo's face to yell at him. "Fine! I'll play your stupid game!" They got right in each other's faces, and Kyoko gritted her teeth as she taunted the blonde boy. "Just don't cry when you lose, Yankee!"

"How about this? The loser cleans the entire classroom by himself." Uo raised the stakes of the innocent card game.

The tension between the two was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Hana was reveling in it. He could feel strong electric waves coming from the arguing pair, so much so that his hair stood up a bit, and he had his hands raised up to his face to better receive the signals. "Oh, aren't those the most wonderful signals?"

Tohru was so excited that they were going to play his favorite game. He wanted all of his friends involved in it. "Let's ask Yuki if she wants to play, too!" He looked around the classroom, but couldn't see her, so he called her name. "Yuki! Wanna play _Rich Man, Poor Man_?" He looked again and realized the girl wasn't there.

She was out in the hall with a male student. They stood alone, talking quietly. Yuki was being confronted with a love confession, but she wasn't ready for something like that. "I'm sorry, I'm just not ready to be in a relationship right now, so I think it would be best if we just c..." The boy interrupted Yuki dramatically, swinging his head from side to side.

"No! Don't say it!" He was upset that she was turning him down, so he flung himself at the girl, screaming her name. Yuki was so surprised she didn't have time to react well to the situation, she was just trying not to be turned into a rat at that moment by a strange boy she didn't even know, but he obviously knew her.

As he got close to her she reacted in the only way she could given the situation. Her hands flew up to grab each side of the boy's face with a smack, and kept him at a distance before anything crazy happened. The girl realized that it probably wasn't the best way to handle the situation, and she quickly apologized. "Uh, I'm…sorry…"

The boy spoke quietly from in between the girl's hands. "It's just that…you were always so nice…I..." She let go of the boy's head as he blushed and looked up at her from his position. "You really don't want to get close to anyone, do you, Yuki?" The boy was suddenly angry with the rat. "You shut everyone out like you think you're better than they are. So, what? I guess a normal boy like me just isn't good enough for you, is that it?" He started to raise his voice slightly, and Yuki kept a straight, blank, emotionless face.

The boy ran away angry from the girl, and Yuki felt badly for what she had done, but she couldn't help it. She poked her head into the classroom and saw everyone having fun. She was envious of Kyoko. There was so much more to her than anyone could have ever thought. The angry girl had been right, in a way, but she was also very wrong. She left the classroom behind, and went to find her quiet place to think, and maybe shed a few tears if she felt so inclined.

Back in the classroom Tohru, Uo, Kyoko, and Hana were all playing the card game, and it was very much undecided. Kyoko was sitting across from Uo, Tohru next to Uo, and Hana was sitting on the back of Tohru's chair, facing away from the table, hiding his cards at his torso. Kyoko had just laid down a set of four eights, which created a revolution. Kyoko bragged about his hand. "Revolution! Haha!" They were starting to attract a crowd to their little game.

Uo didn't like that very much, and suspected foul play. "You cheater! What kind of cheap-ass tricks are you trying to pull!" He had his feet up on the table, and was leaning over them to place the cards on the table.

Kyoko sat sideways with the table, and had her arm resting on it. She hit it with her fist at being called a cheater, making the cards fly off of the table temporarily. "What do you mean, tricks? Those are the rules!" they gave each other a murderous look.

Tohru was still just trying to figure out the rules, so he was slightly confused. "Let's see, revolution makes all high cards low, right?"

Hana sat behind Tohru and had an epiphany. They had almost the entire class gathered around them at this point. Hana held out four cards. "Wait! Reverse revolution!" Everyone was astounded at the competence of her playing skills, and that just made Kyoko the one in the running for loser.

Some of the other girls around her that had been watching her teased her. "Now you've had it, Kyoko!" other boys were laughing at her and supporting Hana's move. "Go for it Hana!" And most of them were laughing and having a good time.

Kyoko retaliated. "Ah, stick it! Let's play again!" She was mainly just ticked off that she lost her chance to win this one. Some girls put her arm around Kyoko's neck and gave her a noogie. She laughed a little, and then just looked defeated. Someone was pointing at her and laughing.

When they finished the game Kyoko was stuck cleaning after everyone had left. She was running back and forth with a mop after having put away the desks. Yuki and Tohru were talking about the game that Yuki had witnessed for a few moments before she left. Yuki was curious about the game. " _Rich Man, Poor Man_? I know the rules, but I can't say I've ever actually played the game."

Tohru explained why he liked the game so much. "Uo just taught me how to play not too long ago. It really is a lot of fun!" He smiled at the girl. "You should play with us next time." There was some kind of crash as Kyoko ran to and fro in the little classroom.

Yuki smiled in agreement. "So, it looks like Kyoko was the loser today, wasn't she?" She turned her head slightly to look at the fuming cat behind her who stopped to grit her teeth at the rat.

Tohru responded with an offer. "Yes, but I'll still help her clean up."

Kyoko denied this offer out of a sense of pride and honor. "No, a loss is a loss."

Tohru looked at her questioningly. "You sure?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll win next time." She was fairly calm about all of this until something else popped into her mind and she was yelling once again, pointing at the rat, who had mainly just stood there quietly. "Just like I'll win against you!" She had the mop propped over her shoulder.

Yuki couldn't pass up an opportunity to tease the cat that had her finger almost up her nose. "Wait, wait. I think I've heard this one before!" She had so much sass in her voice, but her face was still blank and emotionless.

Kyoko didn't like the other girl's attitude. "No joke, asshole! I am going to beat you, that's a promise!" Suddenly Yuki looked just as angry as kyoko for once.

"I wish you'd stop making _your_ inferiority complex _my_ problem." She really was very angry. Kyoko had a cross-vein pop out on her cheek, and she grinded her teeth again.

"I swear, every time you open your mouth it pisses me off!" She glared hard at the other Sohma.

"Every time you open yours you sound like an idiot." Kyoko still had the mop over her shoulder, and she looked like she was going to smash it over Yuki's head. They kept at it with words for another minute, acting just like a cat and a rat would.

Tohru just watched them from a distance. As long as they didn't do anything physically to fight there shouldn't be too much of a problem, but it still amazed him how much they fought. _They're fighting again? They can't even be in the same room together, can they? I guess cats and rats aren't supposed to get along, really, but the way they fight? There's got to be a better explanation._ Suddenly what Kyoko said the day before came into his head. " _And then I'm gonna take my place as a true member of this family!"_ His thoughts started to get deeper the more he thought about it. _Do you think, maybe, what she meant by that was she's trying to beat Yuki, because then she thinks she'll be accepted into the zodiac?_ He thought, once again, about the cat sleeping peacefully in its bed. _If that's true, then that means the cat will be included with the other twelve animals! That would be wonderful!_ He smiled a bit at the thought, but then realized that they hadn't stopped fighting, and it was escalating quickly. _...but I don't think fighting is the best way to go about it…_

He held up his hands to try and tell them to stop, but he was a little too late. Kyoko was screaming threats at Yuki. "I'm gonna break your pretty face!"

Tohru still tried to stop them. "Um, you guys…"

Kyoko threw the mop behind her, and went at Yuki, fists ready and flying. "That's it! Let's go!" She threw a punch right for the other girl's nose, which was easily dodged, and Yuki kicked her, effectively ending the fight quickly. Kyoko ended up on her back with the wind knocked out of her.

Yuki put her foot back on the ground. She glared hard at the girl she had just knocked down. "I can't even stand to look at you!" She turned around and left the room, uncharacteristically slamming the door behind her.

Tohru watched her go, and tried to call her back before she could leave. "Yuki!" But she wasn't listening, and she left.

"Dammit!" Kyoko called Tohru's attention away from the door. She sat up and rubbed her sore head. "Why can't I ever kick her in the head for a change?" She put her hand on her chin in thought. "But she really did try to lay me out today. She must be in a bad mood or something." Tohru looked back at the closed door.

Later that night while he was at work he was rather preoccupied. _I don't know. I guess it's because Yuki's always so polite you would never think she'd had a bad day. But if what Kyoko said was true she might just be keeping her true feelings locked up inside._ He finished his work, pulled off his handkerchief, took the garbage out and went to change back into his school uniform.

Once he was changed and ready to go he grabbed his bag from his locker, and was just about to leave when he heard the other cleaning people talking. They were two old men that he worked around often, and for the most part they were nice, but they could be pretty perverted sometimes, especially around young girls. One of them speaking caught his attention. "Hey! Go check it out! There's a real looker standing out front." Tohru whirled around to look at them. "I don't remember the last time I saw such a pretty face like that on a girl." Tohru's eyes widened, wondering if it was who he thought it was.

The other cleaning man teased the first. "Oh, listen to you. You just don't know when to quit do you?"

Tohru thought out loud. "I wonder if that's…" He brushed off the comments of the older men and made his way out of the building. When he got outside he found that his suspicions were right. Standing by the railing, looking at the lights in the city, was Yuki herself. "Yuki!" He ran towards her, and she turned her head to look at him.

She smiled at him and greeted him. "Hi there! So are you all finished?"

Tohru smiled, happy to see his newfound friend standing outside, waiting for him to finish working. "Yes, but don't tell me you came all the way down here just to pick me up?" He didn't want to inconvenience the girl in any way.

"Sure I did." She stood up, away from the railing. "It's not too safe for anyone to be walking alone at night." She was simply being concerned for the safety of her friend, but Tohru just had to counter that.

"But didn't you have to be alone when you were on your way here?" Yuki nodded slightly.

She was able to counteract that statement easily though. "Yes, but remember that I'm a martial arts protégée. There are only a few people in this world that could take me on and actually win."

"True... Well, how wonderful! An escort two nights in a row! I have to say, you and Kyoko sure know how to make someone feel special!" He smiled at the thought of Yuki fighting off all of the pervs just to get there to pick him up, even though that probably didn't happen.

Yuki gave Tohru a strange look that he hadn't seen yet. It was almost affection, but it was also sad. She wiped that look off of her face before Tohru could figure out what it was. "Well, we should go." She turned to go, but Tohru wasn't done talking to her just yet. He had to know something.

"Wait, Yuki." He walked a few steps to catch up with the girl. "Um, I hope I'm not prying, but if there's something that's bothering you, you know you can talk to me about it if you want."

This caught Yuki by surprise. Not many people were able to tell when she was upset, and somehow this boy knew that something was wrong. "Huh?" She turned around and looked at the smiling boy, wide eyed from amazement.

Tohru kept smiling as she apologized for prying. "I'm sorry, it's just that any time I ever had anything on my mind that was bothering me it always made me feel better to talk about it with someone." At just that moment a couple of men walked behind Tohru and pushed him.

One of them was obviously drunk as he pushed him and teased them. "Hey, lovebirds. Go home! It's too late for you kids to be out on the street." There was a poof as Tohru ran into Yuki and the same sound as before. Then Yuki was a rat once again.

The sober one counteracted the drunk one. "Sounds like it's past your bedtime, too."

The drunk one kept going on with his rant. "What? Are you kiddin'? It's still early!" They passed and were gone within a few seconds.

Tohru sweat dropped looking down at the rat in front of him, who had also sweat dropped. Yuki was just grateful the two men hadn't turned around to look at them. Tohru took back his previous statement. "But, then again. You don't have to. I wouldn't want to talk to me either if I kept turning me into a rat…" He just looked downright depressed.

Yuki helped the mood a little by taking the weight off of the boy's shoulders. "No, it's not your fault, I'm the one with the curse." They stood up and Tohru picked up Yuki's clothes to carry them home, and Yuki walked along side Tohru. She waddled along in the cutest manner, and she took such tiny little steps that Tohru had to walk pretty slow, just so the little rat could keep up, and she refused to be carried.

The pair talked as they walked. Had anyone seen them they would have thought they were seeing things. A talking rat and a boy carrying someone else's clothes and talking to the rat. Yuki was trying to explain things and get it off of her chest. "For years living at Sohma House felt like living in a cage. Akito always like to keep me as far away from, well, everyone as he could. But what I wanted was to live a normal life with normal people. I wanted to move in with Shigure, enroll in this school. I wondered why he let me go at first. I soon found out. I could leave the house, but leaving the cage… that wasn't so easy. No, I'm still a Sohma, and no matter how much I might want to, that's something I can never change. I'll always be different." She stopped walking, and Tohru looked at her with concerned eyes. "I know that, and what scares me is if I get too close to someone they might realize that, too.

"Not like Kyoko. She's shy when she first meets people, but after she gets to know them a little she can open up to them, be herself. Because of what she is Kyoko can never be accepted into the zodiac, but isn't it better that she _can_ be accepted by normal people for who she is? That is exactly what I've always wanted. I guess that's why I get so angry with her, because she can't even see what she has. She's blinded by that foolish desire to join the very same family I've spent my whole life trying to run away from." She stood there sadly for a moment, looking at the ground that she was so close to at the moment.

Tohru tried to comfort her a little. "Yuki, people do accept you, a lot more than you know. I mean, just think of all the boys at school who like you. They always talk about how nice you are."

Yuki made a good point to back up her statement. "But that isn't me. You say they accept me because I'm nice, well I only act nice because I want them to accept me, not because that's how I really feel. I'm not a good person, I'm just… selfish."

The sky opened up and it started pouring rain with thunder and lightning. "The weather didn't say a thing about rain!" Tohru was so surprised by the sudden thunderstorm. What's a day without surprises, I guess." Speaking of surprises, there was a big poof, and naked Yuki was standing in front of Tohru. He turned around quickly, embarrassed.

Yuki put a hand to her forehead, and was suddenly worried. "This is bad…"

Tohru was slightly confused. He gave Yuki back her clothes, she quickly dressed, and they took off quickly down the road. They made it close to the house when Yuki veered slightly off the path. It was starting to rain even harder now. Tohru had no idea where they were going. "Yuki! What is it? Where are we going?"

They continued to walk quickly down the little path in the pouring rain, and they arrived at their destination before Yuki could even answer. They seemed to have arrived at some kind of field or garden. "A field?" There was a patch of dirt with neat rows of vegetables of all kinds. It was a cute little garden.

"No, just a little vegetable garden I take care of." Yuki looked at her work and smiled a little. Tohru was impressed.

"Then did you do all this?!" The wind and the rain battered them as the stood along side of the little garden.

"Uh-huh. This is my secret base." Tohru's face lit up with excitement, and he balled up his fist and held it to his chest in anticipation.

"Wow! It's even better than I pictured! So, you came here to try and protect it from the storm, right?" He looked at the girl next to him and offered to help. "I'll help if I can, just show me what to do!"

Yuki went and got a tarp and let it unfold with the wind over the base. The each took a piece of the tarp to hold it over the garden to keep it from being damaged by the rain. Yuki looked at the boy helping her, and was glad to have him there. "Honda-san, you are a good person."

Tohru was taken by surprise by this comment, and was very embarrassed. "Who, me?" He was so surprised he let go of the tarp and it went flying everywhere "You really think so? No one's ever told that to me before. Thank you so much!" Then he got an idea, and he waved his arms around frantically, blushing all the while. "But maybe I'm only being nice so you'll like me! Maybe I'm just being selfish!"

Yuki laughed at the silly notion. "I don't think you could if you wanted to." They both kept a tight hold on the tarp as it went flying in the wind and rain.

Tohru countered her last statement with another of his mom's quotes that he seemed to live by. "I don't know about that. Mom said everyone can be selfish sometimes, but then again she also said it's always better to give them the benefit of the doubt. No one really starts out kind. All we know how to do at first is want. We want food, we want attention. It's just natural survival instinct, I guess, but kindness is something that we all have to learn as we go. It's something that grows and develops slowly over time, the same way our bodies do. So kindness can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes." His mom talked about kindness when his dad died. " _True kindness isn't something we're born with. It's something we have to work at. We have to mold it and shape it within ourselves. Not everyone has it, but I think everyone has the potential. Sometimes we just have to look really close before you can tell it's there."_ Tohru continued his little talk about true kindness. "Ever since mom told me that I've always tried to look for the good in everyone. It's hard sometimes, but it's worth it, because I get to see all the different shapes that kindness can take." Yuki watched him in amazement. "For example, I think yours is sort of like a candle. Whenever you're around you always seem to bring just a little bit more light into the room. Everything's brighter and it just makes me want to smile." Yuki didn't know she could be that kind of influence on anyone else. She didn't think she was kind at all, just selfish all the time. She looked at Tohru in a way that can only be described as surprise. Tohru noticed it. "Oh, but now you're looking at me like I'm crazy…"

She quickly looked away in slight embarrassment. "Uh, no! I'm sorry, it's just, uh, I guess I'm not used to talking like this."

Tohru smiled and continued. "But I'm glad that we are. When you're comfortable enough with someone that you can share your feelings I'd say that's usually a pretty good sign that you're getting to be closer friends!" Yuki looked up and smiled. Her hair was a little crazy from the wind, but she still looked beautiful, and it was because she was happy.

Just then the tarp flew up and almost completely covered Tohru, and he had to push it back down onto the base. "Oops, it got away from me! I guess that's a good sign that I should stop talking and protect the base!" No matter what, though he still thought about his mother, always. " _It's not always easy to see the good in people, Tohru. In some people you might even doubt it's there at all, but if you can somehow find a way to believe, sometimes that's all it takes to help someone, to give them the strength to find the good in themselves."_

A little while later the skies cleared and Yuki and Tohru were able to uncover the base. Tohru was just happy that they were successful, even though they were both soaked and exhausted. Yuki looked like she might keel over dead. She hated wet clothes, and she was trying to hide the fact that she was wearing a white shirt, and her bra could be seen underneath. "Hooray! We saved the base!" Tohru exclaimed with a smile on his face. He was oblivious to the girl's slight situation.

Yuki wasn't quite so excited. "Yes, but we are a little worse for wear, aren't we?" She kneeled down to check the plants.

Tohru thought maybe they deserved a little something for their trouble. "Maybe we should pick something while we're here, you think?"

Yuki agreed. "Um, I guess the leeks are ready."

This wasn't exactly what Tohru had in mind. "Uh…leeks…"

Yuki spoke quietly, startling Tohru a little. "Honda-san? I've been thinking. Next time you play that game could I play, too?"

Tohru clapped his hands together once in front of him. "Sure! Of course you can! You just didn't seem too interested before." He watched Yuki closely for the reaction that would come.

"Well I, when I saw everyone together like that I guess I let my shyness get the best of me, but next time I'd like to join you." She turned around a little to see Tohru's smiling face looking down at her. "I'll keep trying, maybe I can still learn to open up more."

Tohru got excited as Yuki stood up with a handful of leeks. "That's wonderful! I'll introduce you to Hana and Uo, They're really great! And I know they'll both be excited to meet you." He squeezed his eyes tightly closed in excitement. "I mean, I think Uo's always looking for another victim to beat at _Rich Man, Poor Man._ "

Yuki smiled warmly at Tohru, and tilted her head slightly to the side. She looked so cute. "Thanks for the warning." She laughed a little at the notion of being beaten by someone else at anything.

Tohru had a sweet look on his face, and he felt like he had gotten to know Yuki a little better that evening. He realized something as he looked at the warm smile on the girl's face. _I think that's the first time I've ever really seen Yuki smile…_

The next day wasn't a school day, so Tohru got up a little later than usual to make their breakfast. It was a simple one: steamed leeks. When he finished, and had laid it on the table everyone was already assembled in the dining room, waiting for breakfast. Kyoko saw what was on the plate and made the most disgusted face she could muster.

Tohru was happy as usual. "Eat up everyone!" He made it the way he liked it in hopes that everyone else would like it. There were even little chunks of meat in the mix to give it a little different flavor, but Kyoko wasn't having it.

"Are you crazy! I hate leeks!" Her angry cat ears popped up, and Tohru sweat dropped out of nervousness.

Shigure kicked in his own input. "And onions, and miso, and… am I leaving anything out?" He said this nonchalantly as he read the morning's paper.

Kyoko contradicted him. "Hey! Miso's okay as long as it's soup." She had a look of defiance on her face that no one would ever be able to beat.

Tohru didn't think that there would be anyone that didn't like what she had made. "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't know. I can make something else for you if you want. Just tell me what you like." Yuki spun his chopsticks around on his fingers, took a great, big pile of leeks, pinched Kyoko's nose, turned her head, and shoved the whole pile in her mouth.

"Just eat!" Shigure watched this from his spot at the table and both he and Tohru sweat dropped. This took them all by surprise.

Tohru found this rather funny as she thought about the Sohma girls. _It really is a shame that these two can't get along better. I have to wonder how it would be if Kyoko knew that Yuki admired her a little bit. Who knows. I'll bet there's even something about Yuki that Kyoko admires._

"Um, Yuki. Kyoko's already passed out." Shigure pointed out as Yuki held the leeks in the other girl's mouth.

 _If they could just understand that then maybe there's a chance that they'd actually stop fighting._ He had an image of Yuki and Kyoko standing together on a beach being kind to each other.

 _Yuki looked at Kyoko with soft eyes instead of angry ones, and he told Kyoko "You know, all this time, I simply misunderstood you. I'm sorry."_

 _Kyoko smiled at Yuki. "No, please, I'm sorry. From now on let's be the best of friends._

Tohru decided he didn't really like that idea anymore. If he ever saw them like that he would have to be worried about them and probably think they had lost their minds. _On second thought, that's a little scary…_

…

Shigure, Tohru, Kyoko, and Yuki all sat in Shigure's house on a beautiful Saturday morning sipping tea peacefully after a wonderful breakfast made by Tohru Honda himself. It was rather peaceful, or as peaceful as it can be with Kyoko there yelling at everyone. Tohru was cleaning up from the breakfast, and it was quiet for the moment, until they heard and felt the ground shake and tremble as if some kind of giant were running across the yard, or a herd of horses. Then there was a sudden crash that made their heads turn toward the sound. Shigure looked up from his paper, and Yuki turned her head. Tohru nearly dropped the tray of dishes he was holding.

"What is that?" Tohru inquired rhetorically. He didn't really expect an answer, but Shigure and Kyoko let him know that there was an answer to his question, and that they knew what it was.

"Sounds like he's here early…" Shigure didn't sound overly excited about whoever it was being there.

Kyoko popped up from the spot where she was laying down by the table, over-stuffed from the meal she had just finished, and screamed in slight fear, annoyance, and anger all at once.

"Oh, I didn't know you were expecting anyone!" Tohru had no idea that they were supposed to expect guests or he would have planned a bigger lunch and a smaller breakfast.

Kyoko was on her feet and running for the door in nothing flat, surprising Tohru almost out of his skin, but Shigure grabbed the bottom of the blue hoodie she was wearing with her khaki cargo pants. "Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast Kyoko." He held her there as Tohru took off the apron he was wearing and went to answer the door.

He opened the door just enough to poke his head out. When he didn't see anyone he opened the door all the way and walked out onto the indoor patio area where they put their shoes. He still didn't see anyone, so he called out quietly. "Hello?" Still no answer, so he wondered to himself. "Strange, there's no one here, but I distinctly remember closing that door." He looked at the open door that led outside. "So somebody must have…"

Before he could even finish his sentence a strange boy popped out of nowhere and poked his head around the corner. He spoke quietly and timidly. "Are you Tohru Honda?"

Tohru was still shaking from the fear of being startled so heavily. "Um, yes."

He was very shy in this moment. "Oh, um, well that's… I mean… um…"

He couldn't seem to get out what he was trying to say, so Tohru tried to push him a little, even though he was still scared. "Yes?"

"I'm Kagerou." He looked up and had the most amazing grey eyes with brown hair that hung just above his eyes. He wore a green t-shirt with a long-sleeved white shirt under it, and black pants. He spoke so softly his voice was barely heard. "That's my name, Kagerou Sohma."

Tohru's eyes lit up, fear forgotten about, and smiled a big grin. "Kagerou Sohma… Hi!" _Aww… what a cute little boy!_ She thought too soon, not knowing what was coming.

Kagerou was still hiding around the corner of the door frame. "Please, I… I heard that Kyoko was here, and please tell me it's true. Is she?"

Tohru smiled at the young boy in front of her and answered what seemed like an obvious answer to his question. Kyoko was still in the background trying to run away, and being held back by the back of her hoodie by Shigure who was calmly reading his newspaper. "Oh! Yes, of course Kyoko's here! Would you like to come in and see him?"

Kagerou got a little braver and came out from behind the wall. He spotted Kyoko in the living room, and he didn't seem to care the she was trying to run away from him. "Kyoko?!"

Kyoko turned her head slightly to see the boy there with his hands over his mouth, overjoyed to see her. She yelled the boy's name out of sheer terror and desperation to get out of Shigure's grip. "Kagerou!" She sweat dropped and tried even harder to get away. Tohru couldn't help but wonder why. He was such a sweet boy. His question was soon answered.

The young boy almost started crying, because he was so happy to see Kyoko. "I don't believe it! It's really you!" He took off running toward the escaping girl, crying her name. Tohru looked on from where he was standing as Kagerou ran past him to get to Kyoko. He thought about the name Sohma. _I wonder… Sohma's a pretty common name, I guess, so it could just be a coincidence, but maybe… Maybe it means he's one of the zodiac animals too!_

Kagerou reached Kyoko and spread his arms wide to give Kyoko a gigantic hug, but Kyoko turned around and dodged the boy. The boy looked up at Kyoko with big sad eyes. "Kyoko! Why did you run away for so long?" Kyoko looked like she was going to pee her pants out of fear, and she was panting from trying to get away. "You didn't call me, or send a card. Where were you?" No Kyoko was just scared shitless, her eyes wide, and she was sweating profusely. "Oh darling…"

Suddenly the boy changed and he was a totally different person. Suddenly Tohru understood why Kyoko had been scared. He had an evil look on his face, and he yelled at the girl. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" He suddenly punched Kyoko right in the mouth. He was so fast that Kyoko didn't even have time to dodge or block the blow. It hit her square on the cheek, making her head turn to the side, and she flew across the room.

Tohru was so surprised his whole body when so pale it was white and his face went blue. His hair stood on end, and he froze like that.

Kyoko went flying past Yuki's head, and went through the door, smashing it into pieces, splinters flying. Yuki remained calm as Kyoko nearly flew right into her. Kagerou went bolting toward Shigure, plowing through everything in his way to get to Kyoko. Shigure quickly dove to the side to avoid being thrown in the yard with Kyoko.

Kagerou once again reached Kyoko, who was laying in the yard after being thrown halfway across the property. He reached out and grabbed her ankle, screaming words at the girls that should have been affectionate. "KYOKO! YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK!" He picked her up easily and swung her around over his head in circles so fast she was a blur.

Yuki turned around to look at the broken doors that were in a pile in front of her. She could see Kyoko fly up into view over the pile of door every half second or so as she was spun around over and over again. "Well, it appears we'll be needing another door, doesn't it?"

Shigure had his hand up by his face, rubbing the front of his forehead. Tohru was standing in front of him in shock. He still hadn't moved from his original position when the fighting had started. "Sometimes it feels like the whole world is conspiring to destroy my house!" He was sick of everyone flying through doors, or kicking them down. Ever since Kyoko had returned this had begun a nonstop cycle of breaking and fixing doors.

Tohru still stood there in shock, but was able to manage a quiet "I'm sorry."

Shigure looked up at the younger boy and smiled. "Oh, I was just kidding!" He wasn't, but he didn't want Tohru to feel bad. "This is normal. It's Kagerou's way of showing affection." He wasn't surprised about the violence at all.

Tohru remained glued to the spot where he stood, only moving his lips to talk. "I would have never guessed. So, then, from the looks of it, he must really like Kyoko a lot!" He still didn't even move an inch from his spot.

Yuki turned back to look at Tohru and smiled slightly, broken door now behind him, paper and sticks dangling from the frame of the door. "Kagerou does tend to get a little carried away with his emotions. That's especially true when he's around Kyoko. You might not believe it, but he's two years older than us." The sound of Kyoko being beaten around was could still be heard behind Yuki and the broken door. There were grunts and screams and thumps.

"Thank you!" Shigure teased, thinking _He's not older than me!_ "He's also part of the zodiac." He went back to sipping his tea, and Tohru was pulled from his trance, and his face lit up. There were stars and other spinning shaped around his head that were pulled from his excitement.

"OH! I knew it! That's great! which animal is he?" He inquired. Shigure stopped sipping his tea, surprised the boy hadn't already figured that out based off of the boy's actions when he arrived.

"Hm, I figured that would have been obvious at this point." Tohru looked out the window to see Kyoko receiving a volley of punches to the face and chest. Kyoko was now pale white, and Kagerou continued to yell at her. "Did you even think about my feelings?!" and on and on like that.

When Tohru had stood there for a second sweating a bit watching it play out, and he couldn't figure it out he turned back around to talk to Shigure. "I'm sorry. I guess I've been a little distracted." He turned back to the window to watch, but still had no idea.

Suddenly Kagerou changed again. It was like he had some kind of personality disorder or something. Kyoko was beat up. She had a bloody nose, bruises all over her body, and she was really dirty. She was in so much pain she actually passed out for a moment. Suddenly Kagerou was back to being nice. He looked down and saw Kyoko in a state of disarray and became very worried about it. "Kyoko! Darling, what happened? You're hurt! Oh no! No! No…speak to me! Who did this to you?!"

Shigure, Yuki and Tohru stood off a little way so as to not end up like Kyoko, and Shigure cut in, and pointed out one specific fact. "Um, you, I think…" Yuki had a blank look on her face, and Tohru just look worried.

They all went back inside, and Tohru and Kagerou helped Kyoko clean up and put bandages where needed. Yuki and Shigure were able to put some of the door back together, but there was still a huge hole right in the middle. There was a draft that went through the place when the wind blew even a little, and somehow, Kyoko and Kagerou had managed to break two doors on opposite ends of the house, which just made it worse.

Once everything was put back as normal as it could be they all sat around the table with a hot cup of tea. The wind blew a little, and the house was freezing cold. Tohru sneezed, and Yuki held her cup close to her, relishing in its warmth. Shigure pulled his sleeping kimono tighter around him. Kagerou kneeled with his hands on his knees, hunched over, and Kyoko sat next to him facing away from the rest of the group. Yuki pointed out the obvious. "It's cold in here."

Shigure nodded slightly, agreeing with his younger cousin. "Yes, I noticed that, too." He was rather annoyed with it, but as always, he was just being sarcastic and snappy.

Kagerou put a hand up at his chin, and his head sunk into his shoulders. He was ashamed for having broken Shigure's house that had just been fixed from a few months ago when Yuki kicked Kyoko out into the yard when she first arrived, returning from the mountains where she had trained in martial arts. He had gone back to being shy and quiet like he had been when he first arrived only a few minutes earlier. "I… I'm sorry… but when I saw Kyoko I got so happy all my love just came out at once. I couldn't help it." He squeezed his eyes shut tight, as if he was trying with all his might to forget he had done it.

Tohru looked over at the older boy with his big blue eyes and gaped slightly, amazed at the boy. _It's like he's become a totally different person…_ Kagerou looked over with beady puppy dog eyes at Kyoko, who was holding ice to her face where it was red and swollen from being punched there over and over again. He talked to her almost as if he were talking to a little child. "But it is really your fault, too, Kyoko. If you'd just remember to call me you wouldn't have made me miss you so hard!"

Kyoko went slightly cross-eyed, and let her front bangs fall into her face as she tilted her head forward and gritted her teeth in rage. She became angrier and angrier by the second. "Who says I forgot? Maybe I didn't want to call you."

This, for some odd reason, took Kagerou by surprise. His eyes opened wide as he folded his hands in front of him anxiously. "Oh, silly. Yes you did! We are getting married, after all." Tohru popped up behind him, surprised.

Kyoko turned around, furious. She had cat ears, and her hair was standing on end. Her pupils couldn't even be seen, and she had fangs. She basically turned her ice to snow in her hand. "SINCE WHEN?!" Kyoko seemed just as surprised about it as anybody else.

"You mean you don't remember? When we were kids you asked me to marry you!" Kyoko remembered the instance vividly. She was on the ground after having been beat up, once again, by Kagerou. He was trying to get her to ask for marriage, and he stood above her with a giant boulder above his head. His eyes shone with an evil glint, and Kyoko was nearly scared shitless. She had no choice but to ask for the boy's hand in marriage.

"Only because you were going to kill me if I didn't!" Shigure and Yuki stayed out of it mostly, munching loudly on some snacks Tohru had made, but Tohru was very excited, hands fisted, and eyes wide with anticipation.

"Oh! So the two of you are engaged? That's wonderful!" Yuki had stayed quiet until now, when she stopped munching briefly to make her own input into the conversation.

"At least now he'll have someone else to fight with instead of me." Shigure sat next to her and quietly made his own input as well.

"Congratulations." He wasn't too enthusiastic about his compliment, either. It was a rather trivial thing to be congratulating. And why did he have to congratulate the girl in the first place. If they would just stop fighting at all it wouldn't be an issue anyways.

Kyoko turned to them and yelled at them. "Guys!" They weren't supposed to be supporting the maniac behind her, but he was closer behind her than she anticipated. Suddenly, Kagerou's voice was right in her ear, and she froze, sweating from straight-up terror at being thrown around the yard again.

"We really do make the best couple, since we're both members of the zodiac. Well, Kyoko's not officially a member, but she's still cursed, so it's almost the same. We can still understand each other in a way that no one else can, and that's good." Suddenly he came out in front of the cat and gave her a big hug. "But the best thing is we can hug each other all we want and we don't transform." Kyoko was trying her hardest to escape the tight, strangling embrace, and she looked like she was in pain. Kagerou had his eyes closed and was enjoying every moment of it.

Tohru was amazed. "Wow! I don't believe it! Kyoko didn't turn into a cat!" Just to prove that Tohru was right, Kagerou moved from Kyoko over to Yuki, who looked like she really just didn't want to be bothered by the boy, and gave her a big hug around the neck. Yuki didn't bother returning it, instead her face shadowed over in rejection.

"See! It's okay for zodiac members to hug!" He stuck to Yuki like glue.

"Why is that?" This confused Tohru, and he wanted desperately to know what it was.

Yuki looked over at her new friend and gave him a very vague answer. "It's a mystery to us, too." Shigure stood up and went to stand next to Tohru, who didn't notice the older man's presence until he spoke up next to him.

"Though we've seen it enough to know it isn't just a fluke with Kagerou. He's one of a kind, granted, but he's not the only boy in the zodiac." _That's obvious, I am one,_ he added to himself 's face lit up at the mention of other zodiac members.

"Really? There are more boys besides the two of you? Do you think I'll get to meet them someday?" He clasped his hands in front of him and blushed slightly out of excitement. Kagerou broke his hug with Yuki and went running in the direction of Tohru and Shigure. He pushed them both aside to get back to Kyoko, who was sitting on the ground behind them.

"Kyoko!" She sweat dropped, and leaned back to get as far as she could to keep as much distance as possible between herself and Kagerou. The boy clenched his fists in nervousness and anticipation, leaning in as close as he could to Kyoko's face. Her eyes were so wide with fear that they took up almost half of her face. "You have to tell me, and be honest. Do you love me? Do you hate me? Because I love you, I do. More than anything else in the whole wide world."

Kyoko watched him in shock, and didn't even know what to say. "I'll prove it! I'll cook for you every day. I'll do anything. Even if you cheat on me I can forgive a one time fling!" Kyoko tried to interrupt, but Kagerou just kept going, his face red, and running out of breath from his long rant, acting like a nervous housewife. "No one else loves you this much, do they? No, just me! We should always be together, don't you think?" Kyoko had kept trying to but in, but failed each time.

Then Kagerou changed again, and he was just as violent as the first time. His eyes dilated, and he grabbed the front of the cat's shirt, and lifted a hand to punch Kyoko right in the face. Kyoko turned her head to the side, and her cat ears popped out and laid flat on her head. "I just told you what you think, now say something, dammit!" Kyoko shrunk away from the crazy girl, and just made some kind of hissing sound in his throat that almost sounded like a whine.

Shigure watched on from a distance, and closed his eyes in dismay. "This pains my heart…" His dismay didn't last long before he turned to Tohru with a smile on his face, and he picked up one of the snacks he had made. "But, moving on. Tohru, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you something of a cat lover yourself?"

"That's me! The year of the cat fanclub!" Tohru didn't realize what he had been saying, and what Shigure had been trying to do until it was too late. Kagerou popped up right next to him, angry and highly jealous.

"Rival!" He looked like he was going to pound Tohru into the ground. He got right up in Tohru's face and screamed at him. "But I'm not going to lose! Tohru, what do you like best about Kyoko?" Tohru was nervous, and his eyes were wide with terror. Kagerou didn't even give Tohru a chance to answer before continuing. "Because I like everything! Everything!"

Kyoko stood up, and made herself known to everyone. She suddenly had the courage to stand up against the insane boy that had barged into their quiet setting. "Hey!" She was ignored though, and Kagerou continued his new rant to Tohru.

"The good things, the bad things! I like them all!" He seemed to be panicking, afraid he would actually lose his precious Kyoko. "I love Kyoko, no matter what, even if she changes into her other form!" Kyoko stepped forward and slapped a hand over the boy's mouth to stop him there. She couldn't have her side secret getting out because of this big-mouth boy. She growled at the boy.

She spoke through clenched teeth and a hard jaw. "Shut your mouth right now." Kagerou was completely in shock that he had even started to say anything that would reveal his love's secret. Kyoko continued, so angry she wasn't even yelling, it was so much worse. Her voice was deep and threatening, and it scared everyone in the room shitless, especially the boy behind the hand. "One more word and I'll… I'll…"

Then the tables turned. Kagerou reached up and took Kyoko's arm, bending it backwards and putting her face to the floor as he stood on top of her with her arm angles behind her back so she couldn't even move. "Or you'll what?!" He had that evil look again, and was super violent. Kyoko was in a lot of pain, but then again, she had brought it on herself.

Yuki had a candy in her hand, and was standing next to Tohru, ready to open it, and looking on at the scene in front of her, grateful she wasn't the one loved by Kagerou. "You should really call mercy, Kyoko!" She teased the other girl slightly as she opened her candy. Tohru was just confused, and slightly worried about Kyoko. Suddenly his head flew up as he remembered something he had yet to do.

"Oh, I almost forgot about the laundry!" He turned his head in the direction of the wash room, and Kagerou's head flew up and he had a nasty glint in his eye.

"Laundry?!" Tohru took off for the wash room, and as he opened up the washing machine and started taking the clothes out to take them out to dry he thought out loud to himself.

"It's too bad I didn't get a chance to hear which zodiac animal Kagerou is." Kagerou appeared at the door, and poked his head in slightly. "Oh, well. Who knows? Maybe I can ask him myself one day. I do hope the two of us get to be friends." He pulled a shirt out to place it in the basket, and was startled to hear a voice behind him.

"That's not Kyoko's shirt, is it?" Tohru started and went wide-eyed. Kagerou came around the corner with big eyes.

"Oh, I didn't see you there!" His hair stood on end.

"So is that Kyoko's shirt?" Kagerou pleaded with Tohru with his big, gorgeous grey eyes.

"No, not yet. These are Yuki's clothes." He looked at the basket behind him that was mainly full of black clothes. "I haven't even started on Kyoko's, but they're next on the list." Kagerou jumped over to the little basket, and picked it up, suddenly very excited.

"Don't worry! I'll do it, if that's okay with you. It is, right?" Tohru was surprised, and questioned whether or not he should let this strange boy do Kyoko's laundry, especially since he knew Kyoko isn't exactly fond of him.

"I don't know…" Kagerou's face fell with disappointment, and he pleaded with Tohru.

"I said I'll do it! I really want to!" He was suddenly very sad that he might not be able to clean his love's clothes. "So please, please can I?"

Tohru didn't want to upset him, so he agreed. "Well, um, okay, if you insist." The boy's face lit up again, and he went flying out of the room.

"Yay!" He was gone in a blur, "Thank you so much!" Tohru looked at the direction the other boy had gone in astonishment.

"Uh… Don't mention it…" Kagerou flew out into the main dining room where Kyoko was trying to escape, but Kagerou pounced on her.

"Okay, Kyoko, take everything off!" Kyoko squirmed under the boy, trying to get away as he sat on top of her trying to rip her shirt over her head.

"Wait! Stop it! What are you doing?" She struggled harder than ever as Kagerou answered.

"Your laundry, silly! Now take off your clothes!" He pulled differently now, trying a new tactic. "Or do I have to wash you along with them?" He gave one final tug, and the sweater came up over her head, leaving her in only her black lace bra against her bare torso. She was fairly well endowed in that area, and her boobs bounced slightly as the sweater flew over her head. She had fair skin, and her abs were well toned and defined.

She broke free and flew out into the yard. She was still only in her bra, but she went running as fast as she could. Kagerou watched her run, and called after her, waving the girl's shirt in the air.

"Where are you going?" Kyoko turned around ever so briefly to answer her.

"Away from you!" She ran as fast as she could in only her cargo pants and a bra. She was so embarrassed. Kagerou had seen her half naked, and she had to be wearing her sexy undergarments that day because it was laundry day, and all of her others were being washed. She maybe wouldn't have minded so much had it been one of her usual bras. They covered her better and weren't so .

She jumped on a rock and over the bushes, out of sight. This disappointed Kagerou greatly. He was trying so hard to impress his love. "Kyoko!" He called out in hopes that she would come back.

Shigure popped up at his left shoulder, pushing his hair out of his eyes slightly. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll wander back when she gets hungry." Now Kagerou was even more disappointed. He wanted her to come back now. He held Kyoko's sweater tight to his chest.

Kagerou sadly made his way back to the wash room with Kyoko's shirt, and when he arrived Tohru was just finishing up with Yuki's clothes, and was about to leave the room. He turned around to see a very depressed Kagerou at the door. This boy seemed to switch from emotion to emotion awfully quickly. "Oh! What's the matter?" He noticed just how sad the other boy seemed to be.

Kagerou answered a question with a question. "Why is Kyoko so mad at me? I don't understand." He held the sweater up to his face and cried big tears into it. Kyoko had broken his heart, and he didn't understand why.

Tohru tried his best to cheer him up. "You know, she might not really be angry. Sometimes she just doesn't…" He was interrupted by Kagerou gasping deeply and holding up the sweater to look at it better.

"This stinks! How could you let her wear this?" Suddenly he was better just thinking about how Kyoko had worn something so dirty. The sweater did stink, and was emitting a stink wave as he held it up in the air. "My poor, sweet darling! You'll have clean clothes from now on or I'm not your future husband!" He started loading Kyoko's laundry into the machine with incredible speed and over-the-top excitement.

Tohru smiled watching him, and turned to leave. "I guess if you don't need anything I'll just go hang up Yuki's shirts now." He stood there for a moment longer watching as Kagerou picked up the detergent and started to scoop it in.

"Let's see…how much detergent?" He contemplated for a moment before coming to conclusion after conclusion. "Maybe a little bit more…one more scoop for love…or better yet, the whole thing!" Tohru was so entranced watching him he didn't even realize what Kagerou was doing, he just smiled at the love-sick boy and his housewife act…or maybe it wasn't really an act and Kagerou was really on planning on being the wife-figure when they were married. Kyoko didn't exactly fit the normal wife role, even on a good day. So Tohru just walked away before Shigure blamed him for the bubbles that particular load of laundry was going to cause.

A few moments later, after Tohru had hung up the clothes, he grabbed his bag and went to put his shoes on when he ran into Yuki. The girl had a look on her face that said she was annoyed, and just wanted to get out of the house, at least that's what Tohru got out of her facial expressions. He was right.

Apparently the girl had been looking for Tohru. "Ah, there you are! Are you still going out to shop for dinner?" She smiled radiantly, but she was really just annoyed that she had to get out of the house in order to have some peace and quiet.

"Oh, Uh-huh!" Tohru wasn't overly surprised at the question, but his tone still had an air of surprise in it.

"I'll come with you." She was a little over-excited to be getting out of the house finally, and Tohru was more than happy to have some company on his outing.

"Sure!" He agreed happily, and they readied themselves to go, slipping on some shoes and grabbing anything they might need for their outing.

Kagerou was still in the wash room, and he had just put in all of Kyoko's clothes with a whole box of detergent. He reached up to turn on the machine, and when it rumbled to life he smiled, content for having accomplished something.

Then Kagerou thought of something else, and he went off toward the kitchen at the other end of the house. He filled a pot with water, and started preparing a big pot of tea. He placed it over the stove on high to heat it, and smiled another huge smile. "Perfect! Now when Kyoko comes home we can have a nice _fresh_ cup of tea! Yay!"

Meanwhile, Yuki and Tohru started walking into town with their bags on the way to the market. Yuki started up a conversation. "I'm guessing you've noticed by now, it'd be sort of hard not to, but Kagerou has a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to Kyoko. He's had his heart set on marrying her since we were little kids, for whatever that's worth. It's pretty silly, I know." She looked over at Tohru and chuckled a little as she spoke. The idea was rather ridiculous to the girl, seeing as how she couldn't get along with Kyoko for more than five minutes.

"Oh, no. Not at all. I think it's amazing!" Tohru didn't see it as being silly at all. Yuki's face changed from happy to surprise. She looked to the brunette with wide eyes and her mouth gaped open slightly.

"Huh? You do?" Tohru looked back to Yuki and a wide grin appeared on his face.

"I mean, that kind of devotion is pretty rare, you know? To like someone so much for that long, it's really wonderful, isn't it?" Yuki contemplated it for a moment before she responded thoughtfully.

"Hmm… I hadn't thought of it like that…" Her face softened and looked forward to watch where she was going.

"In fact, I think he'd be a great person to have as a friend." Tohru was always optimistic. Kagerou hadn't shown any signs of kindness or sympathy that morning. He was so rude, and he didn't seem to like Tohru that much, but Tohru will be Tohru, and Tohru never gives up.

Yuki admired this and smiled at him, her face softening. "You should try." She thought about the boys and the many distinct differences between them. "I think you'd be a good influence on him." One thing she was hoping to get out of a friend relationship between the two boys was that Kagerou might calm down if they ever did. Okay, so maybe that wasn't fully possible, but it could be helped a little.

Tohru was humble and modest as usual. "Oh, I don't know about that, but it's nice of you to say." Yuki had looked back at the boy for a moment, and wasn't paying attention to where she was going. When she turned her head back to looking forward again a large telephone pole appeared right in front of her face.

Her mind went racing lightning fast, thinking 'oh shit', 'well, too late now', and 'Dammit, I'm on par with a martial arts master, and I'm letting an inanimate object beat me'. Having thought all of this at an incredible speed she hit the pole head on, not even slowing down before hitting. It stopped her right in her tracks, and she fell backwards onto her butt, rubbing her aching, red forehead. Tohru watched it all happen, and was very worried about the girl. "AH! Are you alright, Yuki?!"

"Yes, I'm fine." She continued to massage her throbbing forehead. "I can just be a little bit clumsy at times, and I wasn't paying attention." Her face turned a light shade of pink in her embarrassment, but she was used to being knocked onto the ground from her martial arts training. She wasn't always an amazing martial artist. It took many years of being knocked down and beaten before she finally became known as almost unstoppable. Setting aside her humiliation for the moment, she stood up, walked around the pole, and they continued on their way, unaware of what was happening behind them at the house.

"Kyoko, I love you!" Kagerou sang loudly as he continued to wander the house doing little chores here and there. "Ah ha! No more smell! I'm a perfect husband!" He had just pulled Kyoko's shirt out of the washing machine, and was contemplating what to do with it, ignoring the mass of bubbles inside the washer.

Kyoko had been listening to him from the bushes just outside of the house, and when she heard that, a wave of relief washed over her. Her shirt was finally clean, and out of the machine. She had been sitting in the same spot the whole time, just listening and waiting for it to be done. She felt awkward though, sitting outside in nothing but a bra and her pants. It didn't help that she hated the bra she was wearing, too. It made her feel so exposed. She would rather have worn one of her sports bras that weren't so revealing, and they were tighter around her. She hated feeling so loose and bouncy all of the time. _How does Yuki wear one of these every day?_ She thought to herself more than once in the last hour, thinking about the other girl of the household and the laundry she constantly saw hanging on the line. It was starting to get cold, so she just couldn't wait for it to be done. When she heard that her shirt was clean she couldn't help but be relieved. "Finally. Now I just gotta get my shirt back and I get the hell out of here."

Kagerou pulled out the sweater, smiling all the while, and held it up to get a better look at it. It was still pretty wet. "Maybe I should wring it out a little to make it dry faster." He started wringing it out as hard as he could to make it dry. No water came out, so he wrung harder. "DRY, DAMN YOU!" Then the shirt ripped loudly in half. Kagerou looked down at the sweater, and his mind went flying faster than ever before, worried about what Kyoko would say.

Kyoko came around the corner, and she spotted the torn sweater. She was enraged. "Tell me you didn't do what I just think you just did!" Kagerou didn't get the message, gushing about his love appearing.

"My love!" now Kyoko was far angrier than she had been in a long time.

"My shirt!" she took the shirt from the boy's hands to examine it, forgetting that she was mostly naked, and turned away from the boy that was now holding another soaking wet article of clothing. "And I really liked this one, too."

"I'm sorry, darling. I promise I'll fix it right away!" He held up the soaking shirt that he had just pulled out of the machine. "Here, you can wear this one until then!" Kyoko turned around to look at it as water basically poured from it onto the floor.

"It's soaking wet!" she bared a sharp set of fangs, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"But that's because I washed it for you!" Kyoko turned around and got right up in his face, and screamed at him.

"Is there anything of mine you didn't wash?" She was on the verge of killing Kagerou. He had showed up unexpectedly, thrown her around the yard, destroying Shigure's house in the process, he had undressed him unexpectedly, and now he had ruined her favorite shirt, and was offering a soaking wet one in exchange. Kyoko's day couldn't possibly get any worse from there.

Kagerou answered nervously. "Your pants…" Now he had done it, Kyoko lost it. Her angry cat ears came out, and she had evil looking eyes.

"What am I supposed to do now? Go around half naked?" Kagerou stopped paying attention part way through when he noticed bubbles coming up behind him. "You want me to get pneumonia, is that it?" Suddenly Kagerou was missing in a mountain of bubbles, and Kyoko stopped talking, watching the bubbles consume Kagerou, and then watching them consume herself, too. She screamed out with slight fear. Where had the bubbles even come from?

Shigure heard a commotion and came around the corner. The bubbles had pushed their way out the door to the wash room, and into the hallway. Shigure sweat dropped at the sight. "Kagerou, how much detergent did you use?" All he could see of the two teens was flailing arms once in a while as they struggled to get away from the overflow of detergent bubbles.

Kagerou yelled from somewhere in the mess of bubbles. "All of it!" all he heard was a voice, and then he turned his head to the side, sniffing just like a dog.

"Is something burning?" Kagerou popped his head out of the bubbles, remembering the pot on the stove.

"Oh no, the tea!" Kagerou went running as fast as he could for the kitchen. The pot was whistling loudly, and even jumping up and down slightly with the heat. Kagerou reached out to grab it, but even the handle was too hot to touch, so when he did he dropped it, and it fell to the ground, all of the tea spilling from it, and the pot was so hot it started a fire when it hit the dry wood of the floor. He let out a blood-curdling scream because of the fire, and because he was now slightly burned on his hands.

The fire on the floor raged with big, orange flames that easily matched the color of Kyoko's hair. Kyoko came running into the kitchen with only half of her favorite blue shirt on, the other half she tried to use to put out the fire, fanning and patting it.

Shigure came in after her, pulled the fire extinguisher out of a cupboard and stood behind Kyoko, aiming at the fire. "Coming through…" He gave only a slight warning before Kyoko turned around to see him pull the handle to release the heavy foam, spraying her.

Once the fire was out they were all thoroughly covered in fire extinguisher goo, and they were stark white. Shigure laughed at the sight of them. "Don't we look lovely!" He had a smile on his face, and Kyoko couldn't believe it.

"I can't believe you're laughing…" Shigure smiled wider, and he put a cross-vein up to his head, but it didn't really work because he was still smiling a big cheesy smile.

"Oh, right! Now I'm mad!" He was referring to the cross-vein that wasn't all that effective. Kagerou blushed and hung his head in shame.

"I…I'm sorry…I didn't do it on purpose." Shigure removed the cross-vein and kept a smile on his face.

"I know that, Kagerou." Shigure may have been calm, but Kyoko wasn't.

"You still did it!" She yelled at him, and he started to cry.

"I'm sorry… I really am… Please, Kyoko. I'm sorry…" He just wanted to do something nice for Kyoko, but he just ended up making a mess.

Kyoko wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood. She had goo in her hair, her favorite shirt was ruined, and she wanted nothing to do with the boy. "Yeah, so what! Sorry isn't going to get us a new kitchen!"

Then Kagerou decided to show his affection again, and suddenly had Kyoko in some strange hold where he was laying with his back on the ground, and Kyoko above him, her back arched painfully. "What do you want me to do?!" Shigure watched on from a distance, smoking a cigarette.

"Mmm, that hurts…"

Not an hour later Yuki and Tohru returned from their shopping adventure in town, and the second they walked in the door they were bombarded by Shigure. He led them to the kitchen where Kagerou was cleaning diligently.

Tohru stood at the doorway and surveyed the mess in amazement that one person could create such a disaster. There was some kind of foam spread everywhere, and the floor looked burned, which would explain the foam. Kagerou was kneeling in the middle of it with a rag, wiping the floor. Shigure saw Yuki's face, and started to explain, but then he realized something. "Well, you see… it… it's a long story." Tohru still stood there in shock, and Yuki crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That's alright. I think I can guess what happened." She had a sarcastic, yet annoyed luster to her voice. Tohru snapped out of his trance, put his bag down and walked farther into the mess toward Kagerou.

"Um… I'll help you clean up." Kagerou turned around on his knees sadly, stopping Tohru in his tracks. He was still wearing his clothes that were covered in the goo from the fire extinguisher, and his hair was clearly still sticky from it as well.

"I can do it." Tohru attempted to counteract it.

"But it's too much work for you all by yourself." Tohru tried to insist that he help the boy, but Kagerou was as stubborn as a boar.

"No! Please, let me do it! I want to! It's my fault the kitchen's like this!" He was very insistent that he do it alone, because it was his fault alone that it even happened.

Shigure stood behind Tohru and Yuki, just outside the kitchen with his arms above his head on the door frame, leaning into it. "At least he's being consistent. He wouldn't let me help either." They all stood in silence for just a moment before Kagerou spoke up again.

"Please, it's okay. I'll do it all." He turned back around and went back to cleaning up the floor, scrubbing it hard.

Tohru didn't see any point in arguing with him about it. "Well, if you insist."

Yuki, Shigure, and Tohru all made their way into the dining room and sat around the table talking. Tohru was still worried about Kagerou though. "Do you really think its okay to leave him in there?" He looked in the direction of the kitchen worriedly.

Yuki didn't seem too concerned and did her best to calm Tohru down and set him at ease. "Don't worry. Kagerou's always been the resilient type. I'm sure he just needs some time to himself." Shigure sighed audibly, and made a strange face."But…you could also think of it as a time-out for all the trouble he caused. Of course, the real crisis here is that we won't be able to cook any dinner while the kitchen's wrecked. I guess we're just going to have to grit our teeth and call for take-out." As if that was the real crisis. It wasn't really a crisis at all. "And I was so looking forward to another of Tohru's delicious home-cooked meals." He was truly sad about it though. If Shigure was anything in this moment, it was sincere, even if it was ridiculous.

Yuki changed the subject quickly. "So, where'd the other home-wrecker go?" She obviously meant Kyoko. She always meant Kyoko when she didn't mention a name.

Shigure pointed up and laughed a nervous laugh. "She's still busy sulking, I think. We'd probably do well to keep our distance for a while." Shigure obviously meant that the cat was on the roof, just like a real cat would probably do: find some place high up away from the ground.

They ordered take out, and it was brought to them fairly quickly. They ordered five meals, but only three were eaten when they got there. Kagerou was still cleaning, and Kyoko was probably still on the roof (still half naked if all her clothes had been in the wash when Kagerou did laundry). When they finished Shigure was stuffed. "I'm going to burst!" He leaned back on his hands and stretched, trying to make himself less uncomfortable from eating so much.

Yuki looked across the table at Tohru. "You, Honda-san?" Tohru smiled, he hadn't even eaten the whole thing, but he was also very full.

"I couldn't eat another bite!" He looked over to the corner of the table and spotted the other two meals. "But what about Kagerou and Kyoko?" Their food was getting cold. "We shouldn't let their dinners get cold."

Shigure sighed again. "So, let's see. Am I brave enough to go look for Kyoko just yet?" He contemplated this for a moment before making a decision. "No… but I think I can chance the kitchen." Tohru looked behind him at the door to the kitchen. They hadn't even heard anything from that direction in a while. Shigure stood up from his seat at the table and went to the kitchen. Kagerou had the floor a lot cleaner that it was, though there were still burned, dark spots in the wood.

"Kagerou, you know we ordered you some dinner. I'm pretty sure it'll taste better while it's hot." Kagerou continued to scrub robotically, back and forth.

"Hm…thanks, but I'll eat later. You can just leave it out there for now." He didn't even pause long enough to look back at Shigure, who had a hand on the door and one hand at his waist with his thumb in the band of his kimono. "How's Kyoko? Is she still angry?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. She still hasn't come down from hiding." Shigure guessed that she would be up there a lot longer.

"You're angry at me, too, aren't you?" He was rather pessimistic in these kinds of situations. Shigure was kind, though. He understood.

"No, I wouldn't say that. I'm not angry. Of course, I can't say I'd want to repeat this little incident." The kitchen was mostly clean now, and Kagerou had done a very good job.

Kagerou stopped for just a moment. "Shigure, please let me stay here, too. I don't think I can leave knowing Kyoko's living in this house with another boy."

"Boy…" This was confusing for just a moment, but then he understood. "Ah, we're talking about Tohru now, right?"

Suddenly the younger boy got a crazy look in his eye, and his demeanor changed for just a moment. "No, I can't wait that long. I have to force Kyoko to make up her mind tonight!" There was some kind of growling noise in his throat that came from his inner animal self.

Shigure denied this idea. "That's not a good idea." Kagerou stood up to face Shigure. The despair and desperation was clear in his eyes. He couldn't lose Kyoko, no matter what. But he was afraid that he already had lost her. "No! You don't know! You don't understand how someone feels when they're in love!" Shigure put a hand on his chin, thinking. _I don't know if I should take offence to that or not…_

"Yes I do." He paused. "At least I've felt enough women to venture a guess." This confused the boy, and he tilted his sideways in uncertainty. "Sorry, that's your cue to say 'Shigure, you perv!' and roll your eyes, slap me, whatever." He laughed slightly, waving his hand in front of him. Kagerou smiled and laughed.

He took the older man's advice, and lifted his fist high in the air. "Shigure, you little perv!" He followed after Shigure as he ran away, and hit him multiple times in the back. "Pervert! Pervert!" Suddenly Kagerou was back to normal, even if only for a moment.

As everyone made their way to their rooms later that night and had gone to sleep Tohru went downstairs to check and see if Kagerou and Kyoko had gone to bed or eaten anything. When he walked into the kitchen he was amazed. It was perfectly clean. "Everything's so clean…" He spotted two meals on the countertop, though. "Kagerou and Kyoko still haven't eaten their dinners…They must be starving..."

He walked out to the entry way and saw Kagerou taping the door back together piece by piece. _Kagerou?_ He watched the other boy for a moment.

"This'll take all night, I know it." Then another piece broke as he tried to fix one. Tohru watched in amazement at the resilience and determination of the other boy. _Has he been working this whole time?_ Then Kagerou's stomach made a loud growling noise. "I'm so hungry…" Tohru got an idea.

He left for a few minutes, and when he came back he had a tray of rice balls. "Hi, there!" He held out the rice balls. "Um, I made you a snack. I noticed you hadn't eaten your dinner yet, and I thought you might be hungry, so I made you some rice balls with the leftovers. I hope its okay that I serve them cold. I can heat them up if you want."

Kagerou smiled warmly, grateful. "No, I like them this way." He reached out and took one. He ate it quickly. His eyes went wide. They were so good. Tohru smiled at him, glad he was eating.

"Okay, then. Now why don't we see if we can't finish fixing this door." Kagerou looked at Tohru in puzzlement. "I thought it might make the job more fun if we work together." The other boy smiled in agreement.

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Good!" Tohru was pleased that he was going to let him help.

"Before we start…" Kagerou started.

"Yes?" Tohru wanted to know what he wanted to do before they got started again on fixing things.

"Can I please have one more rice ball?" Tohru smiled and held up the tray so that he could take one from the tray.

"Sure!" That is was he made them for, after all. Shigure poked his head out of his office where he still sat, working. He smiled before going back into his office.

Later into the night they were almost done. They had a few patches to fix, and they decided to have some fun with the patches. Kagerou started it. He made a cat-shaped patch, and wanted to show his new friend. "Hey! Looky looky!" He held up his cat-shaped piece of paper with a smile, and Tohru laughed.

"It's a cat, right?" Kagerou placed the patch on the door. "It's so cute!"

Kagerou turned around and smiled widely. "Uh-huh!"

Tohru joined in on the fun and started making his own shapes. He held up a piece of paper that looked just like a mouse. "Look, I made one, too!"

Kagerou laughed. "A little rat!"

"You can tell?" Tohru didn't think it looked much like a rat, but it was fun anyways.

"Sure I can, it's adorable!" Kagerou complimented the other boy's shape, and Tohru placed it carefully on the door.

"Why, thank you very much! I'll put it up right here." They moved on to their next patches.

"I'm gonna do another one!" Kagerou liked this new game they were playing.

"Alright, I will, too!" They both turned to cut out the paper and get started on their next little animal shapes.

"Tohru, what are you gonna make?" He wanted to know, but it wasn't going to matter much anyways.

"Let's see…how about a dog?" He smiled, and little did he know that Shigure was listening from behind his office door, and he was smiling, too.

"Okay! Then I'll make… another cat!" The cat was his favorite, and it always would be his very first choice.

Once they finished the door the house was back to normal. Kagerou was grateful for Tohru's help with the last touches. "Tohru?"

Tohru looked up from their handy work to look Kagerou in the eye. "Yes?"

"Thank You." He really like Tohru now, and he hoped for the best in the future for their friendship. "I hope we can be friends from now on." Kagerou smiled widely, and tilted his head to the side in a gesture of love and kindness.

"Yes, I'd like that."

Tohru went to go back upstairs to bed, and could hear Kyoko moving around on the roof. He looked up at where the sound came from. He went around the side of the house, and he found a ladder there. _So that's how she gets up there…_ He climbed the ladder, and when he got to the top he saw an orange-haired girl lying on her side, facing away from him. She had thrown her torn shirt away and had put on another one, though she didn't like this one as much, but it was the only one she could fine that hadn't ended up in the mess of bubbles downstaris. "Kyoko?"

The girl was startled by the sound of a voice when she thought she was alone. She screamed in surprise. "You're not really planning on staying up here the whole night, are you?" Kyoko sat up and glared slightly at the boy.

"Better believe it, Kagerou's still down there."

"You don't want him to be here?" Tohru was actually rather saddened by this. Kagerou had turned out to be so kind, and he had worked so hard. Sure, he could be a little over the top, but that wasn't really a reason to hate him.

"What do you think?" But Kyoko did hate him. She wanted nothing to do with him. "You see what happens when he's around." She put her elbow on her knee and propped her head up with her hand, pushing part of her bangs back away from her face. "It's always like that, he's crazy, and he won't ever shut up about all that stupid marriage crap. I can't stand it!"

Tohru stayed where he was on the ladder. "I think it's sweet." Kyoko looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "When you have someone who loves you as much as he does. You should really feel pretty lucky, you know?" Kyoko lifter her head from her hand and turned to face Tohru.

 _Why does he always have to be so reasonable? I don't want to accept Kagerou! But Tohru has a point…._ She thought to herself as Tohru went on another inspirational spiel, short though it was, it was still good advice. "And I think everyone dreams about getting married one day. Kagerou just dreams a little louder than most!" Kyoko looked away and thought about it for a minute.

Tohru got an idea and started to descend the ladder, leaving Kyoko on the roof alone once again. He didn't even say where he was going, so this confused Kyoko. She stared in the direction of the ladder for a moment thinking about it before turning to look at the edge of the roof. _He's a strange boy…but he's so kind and so…well…special…._

Tohru came back a few minutes later, but this time he climbed all the way up onto the roof. He was still in his pajamas, but he didn't seem to care.

Kyoko looked down at the tray in Tohru's hands. There were three neatly made rice balls all in a row, and placed carefully on the tray so they stood upright. "Here you go!" The boy smiled widely as he offered his treat to the girl. Kyoko stared at it for a moment before accepting the rice balls. She was rather hungry.

Tohru had successfully gotten to Kyoko with food. She did love food. "Kyoko, you have a dream, too, don't you? To beat Yuki? Isn't that why you were up in the mountains for so long training?"

Kyoko looked up at him, processing the question. "Hm? Yeah. Oh, guess Shigure told you." She popped a piece of the rice ball she was currently holding into her mouth and munched for a moment before swallowing. Then she gave up on eating it piece by piece and started shoving it in her mouth. It tasted great. She liked them cold, but she had never told anyone that. Tohru never ceased to amaze her.

"That must have been really hard. Being out there all by yourself?" He thought about the few days he had lived in a tent. Just that had been really hard. He couldn't imagine living in the wilderness alone for four whole months. The idea seemed impossible to him.

"No, I wasn't alone. I was with my master." She thought back to her days in the mountains when all she had to worry about was taking care of herself and learning from her master who was so amazing.

"Ooo, a master! He must be really strong, then!" He looked over at Kyoko, whose face had brightened more than he had ever seen it. She had a grin spread across her face, and her eyes were wild with excitement.

"Are you kidding? He could flatten that sissy rat with one punch." She stood up and looked up at the sky, thinking about the person she admired more than anyone else in the world. "My master's as strong as they come. He's a Sohma, but he never treated me like the others do! He's been teaching me how to fight ever since I was a little kid! Sure, he put me through hell up there in the mountains, but those were some of the best days of my life! It's like every day was an adventure, you know?" The more she talked the more excited she became. She clenched her fists and lifted them as if she was going into a fighting stance with her legs apart and arms up.

Tohru watched her with excitement. He had never seen Kyoko like this. She had always been so depressed or angry all the time. He didn't think she could be happy, but Kyoko was proving him wrong. "I'd wake up every morning as ask myself 'What's he going to teach me?' and 'How much stronger am I going to get today?' It was great! Ah, listen to me! Just talking about it gets me pumped up!" She turned to look at Tohru and the face he wore suggested that he was scared or worried, but really, he was just amazed.

Kyoko paused when she saw the look on Tohru's face and realized that she probably looked like a fool. Her cat ears stood straight up on her head, and she sat down, letting her ears flatten on her head in embarrassment. "This must seem pretty stupid to someone like you, huh?"

Tohru realized he had a funny look on his face, so he wiped it away and replaced it with one of awe. "No! It's fascinating! I guess I really just don't know anything about fighting is all." He realized what he said when Kyoko looked over at him skeptically. He corrected himself by lifting his fists up. He had a dazed look in his eyes, and he sweat dropped. "Not to say I'm not interested to learn, and I mean, I do know a little bit. I have a couple of moves I could show you…" He thought about it for a minute, panicking. He decided what move to show, and with a loud "Right strike!" he took his right arm across his body to punch Kyoko's right arm. Kyoko didn't even flinch.

Kyoko looked over at the boy, and they stared at each other for a moment in silence before Kyoko smiled warmly, laughing. "You suck." Tohru blushed and looked at his balled up fist. He hadn't even made her flinch in the slightest. He had given it all he had, yet it didn't even do anything. He looked back up at Kyoko's smiling face and smiled with her.

Kyoko went on to explain in detail how to make a fist how to punch with force. Tohru became friends with Kyoko that night as she taught him the basics of martial arts, smiling all the while. _I think I've discovered something else new about Kyoko. Underneath that face she usually makes she's been hiding this little awkward smile._

When morning came around everyone was back to normal. Kagerou was up at the crack of dawn with the school-goers, and was giving Kyoko a gigantic hug, calling out her name. "Kyoko! Darling! Goodbye my love!" The only problem with this picture was that Kyoko was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, and Kagerou had barged in to give her a hug. Kyoko was trying to break away from the hug, and she was flinging toothpaste all over the bathroom. "Take care of yourself until I come back!"

Kyoko yelled something back about being fine and to get off and not come back. She would be better off without him coming back. Shigure and Tohru watched from the open door to the bathroom, and they both smiled, Tohru was just glad to see Kyoko off of the roof. "Glad to see everything's back to normal."

Shigure remembered the day before and Tohru trying to figure out Kagerou's animal. "Incidentally, did you ever figure out which animal Kagerou is?" Kagerou hugged Kyoko even tighter in the background, and she yelled even louder.

Tohru remembered that the other boy was an animal, and looked over to watch him. "No, not yet."

Kagerou was yelling at Kyoko for trying to get away. "Kyoko, be nice, or I'm not going to kiss you goodbye!"

As if Kyoko wanted such a thing anyways. "Who needs it?!" Kagerou went tearing off out of the bathroom as fast as he could.

"That's it, you jerk! I'm leaving you, love!" He went for the front door at full speed. Little did he know, on the other side of the door was a very flamboyant girl delivering newspaper. She was ranting some crap about reliable paper girls and delivering paper when Kagerou came flying through the door, shattering it into a million pieces. Kagerou had no time to stop herself, and he flew right into the girl with a loud poof. Shigure, Kyoko and Tohru watched it all happen, Shigure pointing out the obvious, that this is bad.

Yuki reacted quickly, stepping forward to put a hand over the girl's eyes. "Ah, thanks for your hard work!" The other girl was surprised, and responded as you would expect, very professionally.

"Oh, sure! It's my job! Sorry I was a little late this morning." Yuki pushed her away, and she went soaring down the path back toward the road. "BYE!" She yelled as she went, unable to control what was then happening to her.

Tohru stepped forward to see exactly what Kagerou was. He smiled widely when he saw a cute little brown boar with light striped down its back sitting on its haunches in the grass. It had its head tipped forward in shame and humiliation. "Hey! I figured out Kagerou's zodiac animal! He's the boar!" He picked up the little boar and held it in front of him. Shigure hadn't wanted him to figure it out this way.

"Um…that's cheating, I think." Tohru turned back to look at the boar in his arms and smiled at it. This would explain why he had been so stubborn and rash.

"Kagerou, you know, I think I'm beginning to understand better why it is you like Kyoko so much. She really does have a lot of good qualities, and the more I learn about them the more I want to see her the way you do." Kagerou obviously took this the wrong way, and his eyes turned evil.

He floated up into the air with one strong kick and went for Kyoko with full strength. "Kyoko, you two-timer!" He kicked her right in the face with a cloven hoof. Tohru was devastated. He was frozen with humiliation and dread for what he had just started.

Shigure pointed out an important fact. "I thought he was going to forgive her little fling?" He had said the day before that he could forgive a onetime fling, but instead he was kicking Kyoko in the face over and over again.

"I'll forgive her after I kill her!" This went on for another minute, and Tohru tried to fix it.

"Excuse me." He interrupted their fight, smiling, trying to calm the boy down. "Maybe I should start over. What I'm trying to say is: I hope I can be like you when it comes to finding all of the good qualities in the people that I care about. They're not always easy to see."

Kagerou looked over to him from the top of Kyoko's head. "You want to… be like me?" His little nose wiggled as he talked, making his appearance as a boar that much cuter.

Tohru smiled widely and nodded. "Uh-huh. It's wonderful, the way you find so many things to like about one person." There was another poof, and Kagerou was human again. He was completely naked against Kyoko's back. "I don't know what to say!"

Kyoko went red from head to toe. She yelled at the boy on her back. "Put on some clothes!" He put his clothes back on, and went to walk down the path to the road, waving behind him.

"Bye-bye! Oh, and I'll bring you a new shirt next time I come over, Kyoko! Love you!" Kyoko faced the other way to start walking to school, huffing. Yuki smiled at the boy, and Tohru waved at him.

"Goodbye! See you again soon!" He had made a new friend, and he was content with a smile on his face, as usual. He watched Kagerou run down the road toward Sohma house. It was finally quiet for once, but it didn't last long.

Kyoko turned around to see Tohru grinning at her. "Hey! What's that look for?!" She blushed slightly when she saw that smile.

Tohru just smiled wider. "Nothing. You're just so… lucky." Kyoko's face turned tomato-red, and her eyes went blank. There couldn't possible by anything more embarrassing than what had just happened. She turned around and started marching down the road to the school.

"Don't you even start!" Yuki looked on in slight confusion. Whatever had happened, she had no idea what it was. "Come on! We're gonna be late!" Yuki put her hand to her head.

"Oh, well. There was such a commotion that I couldn't even do any gardening." That was really the only thing she had to worry about now. Now that all of the ruckus had died down and gone away.

Tohru turned to Yuki and lit up with excitement. "Oh, the base! Those leeks we picked were delicious! Are you planting something new?" Yuki decided to open up to the boy. She had decided to open up more since meeting Tohru and becoming friends.

"Yes, strawberries!" Everyone loves strawberries, especially a certain boy she knows. And that boy smiled at her on a daily basis.

"Really? I can't wait! I love strawberries!" Yuki already knew that.

Yuki smiled her signature catch-all-the-boys-with-one-glance smile and nodded. "I thought you might. That's why I'm planting them." Tohru thanked her as they heard a familiar rumble, and Kyoko stopped marching to sweat drop and turn around with dread.

Kagerou came charging back with vengeance. "Kyoko! Stop right there!" He collided with the orange-top with a big dust cloud, surprising Tohru, but even more amazing: it surprised Yuki, too. "I almost forgot to give you a goodbye kiss!"

Kyoko struggled against the boy, but it was in vain. He was a boar after all. Eventually Tohru smiled when he got over his surprise, and watched the two fight. _All of the sudden I'm feeling like there are a few things I need to do._ There was a loud kissing noise as Kagerou finally got a kiss from Kyoko. _I'd like to learn more about Kyoko and Yuki if I can. About the things they like, and the things they don't like. I think that might help me to understand them a little bit better._ Kagerou spun Kyoko around in circles as he kissed her. _And who knows? Maybe it will help me to find all the good qualities in them that I haven't seen before._

1\. Warmed sake with toasted fish fin.

2\. Rolled egg omelet that is fried flat, and then is rolled with chopsticks. A lot like the American omelets, but mainly is pretty simple with just the egg and maybe a few spices.


End file.
